Excursions on Eid holidays are fast picking up in Bangladesh. Tour operators once used to rue the travel-loving people's reluctance to make trips to tourist spots during the three or four-day Eid holidays. The mindset appears to be changing fast. Domestic tourist sites filled with both fun-loving and reflective people are common spectacles these days. This year was no exception. During the last two Eids, few spots were found without tourists. Holidaying people in droves from urban areas, along with families and friends, have thronged tourist spots far and near, well-known and little known. In the last one and a half decades, except during the 2014-`15 countrywide bouts of political turmoil, local tourists have been seen visiting almost all the country's tourist attractions. The sites ranged from the greater Sylhet, Cox's Bazar, Patenga and Kuakata beaches to the Sundarbans and the forest-covered national parks. Many tourists this year have avoided the Chittagong Hill Tracts because of a series of tragic landslides earlier, which have made the journey precarious.
In the developed countries, visiting exotic places overseas is integral to the joy of holidaying during festivals, especially the Christmas. In India, in the state of West Bengal in particular, middle-class and lower middle-class people are seen taking preparations for tours round the year. The Puja vacation remains incomplete to many unless they come out of the urban confines and spend a few days on the nearby beaches or in the hills. To the delight and joy of both tour operators and travel-loving people, the trend of Eid outings is on course of taking root in the urban people's festival schedules. With the discovery of newer spots, the holiday itinerary gets longer with every passing year -- resulting in continued increase in the number of tourists. Undeniably, the money spent on these tours adds to the economy.
There is a flipside, though. In spite of growing popularity of Eid tours, everything is not that upbeat. A feeling of unease and forebodings hamper tourism to flourish. Fears of insecurity and walking into trouble unwittingly keep haunting many otherwise youthful and buoyant holidaymakers. Given the continued unfolding of grim spectacles involving brutalities on women, many of them may feel discouraged to go out in a totally unknown place. It is only foolproof assurance of a safe and hazard-free trip which can see young women take part in these recreational tours in large numbers. Besides, nuisances like mugging, bullying, eve-teasing etc., detract a lot from the innocent joy of trips to remote areas. All this calls for deployment of law enforcement agencies effectively, and in sufficient numbers.
With security assured by the authorities, tourists too are expected to behave responsibly. They must not be too adventurous. This at times put their lives in great danger. There are reports on drowning of a number of holidaymakers at different tourist sites. Also there is a need for developing tourist culture. This prompts boisterous vacationers to refrain from littering at tour sites. It is mindless littering and other polluting habits that spoil the beauty of holiday destinations -- natural or man-made.
