Hotels and motels in Cox’s Bazar fear huge financial losses as tourists are increasingly shelving plans to visit the town of the longest natural sea beach in the world due to persistent deadly political activities. Occupancy rates at most hotels and motels in the beach town, the most popular tourist spot in the country, were as low as 10-25 percent due to street violence although the peak period for the tourism sector has just begun.
Industry people said almost all bookings of November have already been cancelled as the tourists apprehend the political situation will worsen further in the days to come.
The sudden 60-hour hartal enforced by BNP-led 18-party alliance, which ended yesterday, also affected the businesses badly.
The period from October to April is considered the peak season for the tourism sector, and the industry people said owners of the hotels and motels had invested a huge amount targeting the peak season.
Hotel Seagull, one of the luxury hotels in Cox’s Bazar, had only 12 rooms occupied yesterday although 179 rooms were available.
“The occupancy rate should be at least 60 percent at this time in a normal season,” said Sheikh Imrul Islam Siddique, chief executive officer of the hotel. He said many of the hotel’s individual and corporate bookings were cancelled due to the long and sudden hartal.
“Now we are worried about how to pay the salaries to the staff. If the political situation does not improve, the tourism sector would be at stake.”
Imran Humayun Khan, sales and marketing manager of Hotel Long Beach, said only 25 rooms of the hotel were occupied yesterday against its 104 rooms.
“Huge numbers of corporate bookings for November were cancelled due to the political unrest,” he said.
Khan said most hotels were constructed with the financing from banks, and the owners are now facing difficulty in repaying the instalments due to dull business.
Humayun Kabir, general manager of Hotel Cox Today, said only 10 percent of the hotel’s 276 rooms were occupied as both individual and corporate tourists do not dare to visit the town.
“We have incurred huge losses since February due to political unrest, as both local and foreign tourists are declining to come to Cox’s Bazar.”
“When local tourists do not dare to come here, how could we expect the foreign tourists?”
Kabir called for introducing alternative return routes through sea or railways from Cox’s Bazar alongside airways and road transports so tourists can go back in case of any sudden hartal.
He also urged political parties to keep the tourism sector out of the purview of shutdown like that of the export-oriented garment industry.
-With The Daily Star input
