Resorts and cottages at Sajek Valley, a leading tourist attraction in Baghaichari upazila of Rangamati, have received remarkably low bookings ahead of the Eid vacation. It left the owners and traders in fear of potential financial losses as well as inability to meet operational expenses.
Usually, all rooms in the resorts and cottages get booked some 10 to 15 days prior to the Eid vacations. But the situation is different this time as only 20 to 25 per cent of rooms have so far been reserved.
According to the association of resort-cottage owners, around 60 per cent resorts and cottages saw no bookings. The owners fear that they might have to use their capital to bear the operation costs, including salaries of staff.
However, some rooms have been booked for 19, 20, and 21 June, following the weekend and Eid vacation.
Indra Jeet Chakma, owner of Sajek Hill View Resort, said, “No room has been rented in my resort during the vacation of Eid-ul-Azha. In other years, advance bookings would have been completed much earlier. The situation does not seem good this time.”
He is even afraid of losing his capital due to the lack of rents during the Eid, but revealed that they are receiving advance bookings for the weekend after the Eid vacation.
This downturn contrasts sharply with the last Eid-ul-Fitr vacation in April, when all rooms in the 112 resorts and cottages of the valley were booked 10 days in advance.
More than 500 tourists went to the picturesque site without prior reservation but had to return immediately due to lack of available rooms in the resorts and cottages. Some of them took refuge in residences of locals, under-construction establishments, and open spaces.
Suparna Dev Varman, president of the resort-cottage owners' association in Sajek, also confirmed that resorts and cottages did not see expected levels of room-bookings.
“There has been minimal booking of rooms during the weekend and Eid-ul-Azha holidays, likely to be around 20 to 25 per cent. In other years, all the rooms get booked 10-15 days before the Eid vacation,” he said.
There are some pre-bookings for the weekend after the Eid vacation. He is optimistic about 100 per cent booking, or a wave of tourists without prior-booking.