Uncertainty looms large over tourism in peak season

A new ‘haor tourism’ has flourished centring the Tanguar haor, enriched with biodiversity and fisheries resources, in Tahirpur and Dharmapasha upazilas of Sunamganj district. Other than the traditional boats, over 200 houseboats also operated in the haor with July-October being the peak season. This year, tourism, however, did not boom due to political unrest and floods in several phases.

Sunamganj Houseboat Owners Association president Arafat Hossain told Prothom Alo, “This year, the number of trips dropped by more than two-thirds than the regular peak season.”

As they have been compelled to offer discounts on certain tour packages, he said, “profits dropped to less than 10 per cent from 30 per cent per trip.”

Friday, 27 September, marked World Tourism Day. The United Nations World Tourism Organization celebrated the day with the theme ‘Tourism and peace.’

In the meantime, a three-month ban on the entry of tourists to the Sundarbans was lifted on 1 September with visitors flocking to the mangrove forest upon obtaining permission from the forest department.

Tour Operators Association of Sundarbans general secretary M Nazmul Azam said, “Some 225,000 tourists visited the Sundarbans during the last season. Of them, 26,000 enjoyed the reserve forest for three-day packages while the remaining tourists visited the nine other tourist spots near the border of the forest on day-long packages. As per the booking projection, the number of tourists will fall this season.”

October-February is the peak season for the tourism business, but the relevant people are worried about the business during this season.

Many youths seek adventure into the deep forest of Bandarban for trekking and enjoying rough Nafakhum and Debotakhum waterfalls, as well as meeting the hill people, but troubles have been brewing in the district over the past four years, and it started during the restrictions of coronavirus pandemic.

This was followed by enforcement of the tourist ban at various popular sites due to the revelation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) armed group Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF).

Added to this was the severe flood last year and the recent turmoil – altogether tourism currently witnesses a worse scenario in Bandarban.

Bandarban Hotel-Motel Owner Association general secretary Serajul Islam said, “The tourism sector is the source of bread and butter of people in Bandarban, but many have quit the profession over the past four years while owners are selling their hotels and resorts due to the burden of loans.”

“Hotels and resorts still offer 50-60 per cent discounts to attract tourists, yet no tourists come. We are in talks with the administration to reopen the closed tourist sites soon,” he tried to sound hopeful.

The situation is better in the other two CHT districts – Khagrachhari and Rangamati – than Bandarban, but tourism was shut down in Rangamati after violence erupted.

Suparna Dev Varman, president of the Resort-Cottage Owners Association in Ruilui, said, “Tourists visit Sajek around the year. Hopefully, the situation will improve soon and tourists will also start arriving.”

Cox’s Bazar, the most popular tourist destination in the country, also saw a downtrend in the presence of tourists despite the discounts at various hotels and resorts.

Recently, Cox’s Bazar Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Abu Morshed Chowdhury told Prothom Alo that tourists did not visit Cox’s Bazar for 52 days due to bad weather, rough sea, waterlogging in the city from heavy rainfalls and the movement of Students Against Discrimination, but traders are now trying to recoup the losses.

People involved in the tourism business said tourists will start arriving once they gain trust in security after the police and administration become active.

Several foreign countries issued red alerts for travelling to and in Bangladesh for their citizens due to violence during the student movement and the post-movement period of the fall of the government. As a result, advance bookings of foreign tourists were cancelled.

Bangladesh Tourism Board chief executive officer (CEO) Abu Tahir Muhammad Zaber told Prothom Alo, “We have been trying to attract foreign tourists in different ways. We also sent the proposal to the ministry in a bid to withdraw the red alert on travelling to and in Bangladesh by several countries. We expect the overall situation will improve soon.”

Regarding the overall situation, Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) president Mohammad Rafuzzaman said, “An uncertainty persists, but we are trying to maximise the coming season. Less natural disasters take place in winter. So, people visit more in this season. It seems political stability is likely, and we are also trying our best to attract foreign tourists.”

* This report appeared in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Hasanul Banna