City's most lavish hotels 'house full'
Monday, 1 February 2010
Mashiur Rahaman
The ongoing South Asian Games 2010 has given a big boost to the city's luxurious residential hotels as almost all of them have been 'house full' for over a week and are supposed to remain so in the next couple of days.
Thousands of foreigners including participants, officials, spectators and media personnel have gathered in the capital on the occasion of the region's largest sporting event that kicked off on January 29 last.
The 11th edition of the Games, scheduled to end on February 09 next, is being considered the largest sporting extravaganza ever hosted in the history of Bangladesh.
"All available rooms in our hotel have been reserved for a week," Marketing and Communications Manager of Dhaka Sheraton Hotel Muhammad Shahidus Sadique told the FE.
There is no chance of availability of rooms in the next week also, he added.
Terming Sheraton to be the city's oldest luxurious hotel, Mr Sadique claimed that it has been the prime residential location for most foreign tourists and sporting delegations. He claimed to have received overwhelming response this year.
Similar to Sheraton, the city's most modern luxurious hotel - Radisson Water Garden Hotel - is declared to have been full of its capacity till February 05.
Reservation officials of Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, another world class hotel of the city, have also declined to accept any new booking till February 04. They claimed to have been fully reserved for about a week.
Similar fully-booked situation was also witnessed in the city's other high and medium range residential hotels. Of them, Best Western La Vinci Hotel, Hotel Regency, Hotel Sarina and Westin Hotel also declined to take any fresh reservation for the coming days.
Hosting of such sporting events brings a positive sign for the country's hotel and tourism business as they can capitalise on hosting the participants as well as tourists who arrive here to enjoy the games, businessmen in hotel and tourism sector commented.
Nearly 1,800 athletes from eight countries are now in Dhaka to take part in the Games dubbed 'The Olympics of South Asia'. They will compete in 23 disciplines for 158 gold medals.
Bangladesh is hosting the mega sporting event for the third time after staging it in 1985 and 1993 when the Games was known as South Asian Federation (SAF) Games.
The ongoing South Asian Games 2010 has given a big boost to the city's luxurious residential hotels as almost all of them have been 'house full' for over a week and are supposed to remain so in the next couple of days.
Thousands of foreigners including participants, officials, spectators and media personnel have gathered in the capital on the occasion of the region's largest sporting event that kicked off on January 29 last.
The 11th edition of the Games, scheduled to end on February 09 next, is being considered the largest sporting extravaganza ever hosted in the history of Bangladesh.
"All available rooms in our hotel have been reserved for a week," Marketing and Communications Manager of Dhaka Sheraton Hotel Muhammad Shahidus Sadique told the FE.
There is no chance of availability of rooms in the next week also, he added.
Terming Sheraton to be the city's oldest luxurious hotel, Mr Sadique claimed that it has been the prime residential location for most foreign tourists and sporting delegations. He claimed to have received overwhelming response this year.
Similar to Sheraton, the city's most modern luxurious hotel - Radisson Water Garden Hotel - is declared to have been full of its capacity till February 05.
Reservation officials of Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, another world class hotel of the city, have also declined to accept any new booking till February 04. They claimed to have been fully reserved for about a week.
Similar fully-booked situation was also witnessed in the city's other high and medium range residential hotels. Of them, Best Western La Vinci Hotel, Hotel Regency, Hotel Sarina and Westin Hotel also declined to take any fresh reservation for the coming days.
Hosting of such sporting events brings a positive sign for the country's hotel and tourism business as they can capitalise on hosting the participants as well as tourists who arrive here to enjoy the games, businessmen in hotel and tourism sector commented.
Nearly 1,800 athletes from eight countries are now in Dhaka to take part in the Games dubbed 'The Olympics of South Asia'. They will compete in 23 disciplines for 158 gold medals.
Bangladesh is hosting the mega sporting event for the third time after staging it in 1985 and 1993 when the Games was known as South Asian Federation (SAF) Games.