COX'S BAZAR: The beach city of Cox's Bazar is expected to draw holidaymakers in droves during Eid holidays. About 70 per cent hotels, motels and guest houses have already been booked in advance.
Hoteliers are happy with the tourists' response.
They told the FE that around 70 per cent of their accommodation has been booked for the first week of April to April 27.
Kalim Ullah, general secretary of the Hotel-Motel, Guest House Officers Association, said, "Rooms are now being booked every day. And tourists are making reservation virtually."
Rezaul Karim, president of the Cox's Bazar Tour Operators Association (TUAC), said, "The tourism business has witnessed a drastic fall recently since there were no tourists during the entire month of Ramadan."
He, however, expected that more than 0.1 million (one lakh) holidaymakers would visit Cox's Bazar this time.
Cox's Bazar is one of the most sought-after tourist destinations in Bangladesh. During every Eid vacation, a sizeable number of tourists travels Cox's Bazar, the longest unbroken sea beach in the world.
Meanwhile, hotel owners are ready to welcome huge flocks of tourists.
Abul Kashem Sikder, president of Cox's Bazar Hotel-Motel, Guest House Owners' Association, said, "We have had only a few tourists in the fasting month of Ramadan. During this time, we have tried to decorate and renovate our hotels, motel and guest houses as beautiful as possible."
"We're now working on increasing our hotel's beautification so that it can be convenient for the tourists, who will come after Eid," said Shahnewaz, manager of Hotel Sea-World.
Cox's Bazar Tourist Police's superintendent of police (SP) Zillur Rahman said, "Tourist police are preparing in advance to maintain discipline in the beach town and serve tourists."
He further said, "A special team of tourist police has been formed in this regard. Each team will be patrolling tourist areas along with law enforcers in plainclothes."
Meanwhile, our Sylhet Correspondent adds: holidaymakers are set to visit Sylhet during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays as about 60-70 per cent hotels have already been booked by them.
According to the hotel authorities, 60-70 per cent of rooms of many hotels have been booked. Many of them have booked their rooms online while others did it over the phone. However, many visitors may not get rooms on spot registration, they added.
People involved with the tourism sector in Sylhet division expect that about 0.6 million (6 lakh) visitors would make their trips in this region during the Eid vacation. After a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the tourism sector would see rebound in business during the vacation, they hope.
The pandemic had hit the total sector badly. With a remarkable reversed situation, things would be totally different this time. It would help them recoup the huge loss incurred during the last two years.
When contacted, ATM Shoeb, president of Hotel & Guesthouse Owners Group, Sylhet, said, "The hoteliers expect business will boom this year after two years of suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic."
All tourist spots would see a good turnover this time, hoteliers expect.
According to industry sources, there are over a hundred attractive sites of tourist interests in the region.
