Tourism sector expects brisk business during Eid, Puja holidays

Country's tourism industry is expected to do brisk business during the ensuing Durga Puja and Eid holidays.
Political stability and longest holiday appeared as a relief to the sector, which was hit hard last year due to political turmoil, sector insiders said.
Durga Puja and Eid-ul-Azha -- the two biggest religious festivals of the Hindus and the Muslims will start at the end of this week and will end at the middle of next week making it the longest holiday of the year.
Tourist spots and hotels and motels at popular holiday destinations such as Cox's Bazar, Rangamati, Bandarban, Sundarban and Sylhet have already been booked in advance, sources said.
"We are very happy as most tourist spots have been booked in advance for more than ten days -- before and after the Eid and Puja period," said Taufiq Uddin Ahmed, president of Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh.
"Besides, most hotels and resorts in popular holiday destinations such as Cox's Bazar, Rangamati, Bandarban and Sylhet have also registered full occupancy for October 03-12," he added.
The stable political climate and favourable weather meant most people are in a mood this time to take off for the five-day weekend, said Mohiuddin Khan Khokon, director of sales and marketing at Hotel The Cox Today, which is fully booked for the weekend.
"It is encouraging that the five-day weekend coincided with the ideal time to enjoy the natural beauty of the hill district," Sultan Nafis Mahmud, general manager of Hotel Hill View, a popular hotel in Bandarban, said.
The 72-room hotel has been booked with 70 per cent occupancy from October 3 to October 12.
Khalil Mandol, a senior officer of a private bank said he has taken the opportunity to visit Bandarban and Rangamati with six friends during the Eid holiday.
"We are very excited to see the beauty of hill tracts during the Eid holiday," he said while booking a hotel at Bandarban and Rangamati through a booking agency in the city yesterday.
Dilapidated roads, especially on the Dhaka-Cox's Bazar, Rangamati and Bandarban routes, have significantly affected domestic tourism, said a hotel manager, adding that a traveller has to spend 18-20 hours on the road to go to Cox's Bazar from Dhaka now.
As a result, a large number of people now go abroad on holiday, he added.
Meanwhile, many prospective tourists alleged that following the high demand, hoteliers have increased all types of service charges two to three times.
"I have to book a double room at a hotel in Cox's Bazar at Tk 8,000 which was less than Tk 3,000 last year. It is completely an unethical business practice," Abdulla Khokon, a tourist said.
"There should be a regulatory authority to bring discipline to the industry," he added.
However, travel and tourism contributed Tk 222.60b, or 2.1 per cent to the country's gross domestic product last year.
Its contribution is expected to rise to 7.7 per cent to Tk 239.80b this year, World Travel and Tourism Council said in its latest study.
Spending by local tourists is expected to grow by 7 per cent year-on-year basis in 2014 to Tk 396.70b, according to the London-based research organisation.

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