UNB, Dhaka :
The beach town of Cox’s Bazar, the country’s hottest tourist spot, is now overcrowded with tourists, mostly the local ones, forcing posh hotels to turn away many guests. The tourist city has been witnessing an increased flow of tourists from different parts of the country since December 16 but the flow reached its peak on December 23.
“All the top raking hotels are now fully booked. This trend will continue till December 31 but there might be fluctuations (tourists flow) from December 26-28,” Mohammed Abdul Kauiam Chowdhury, General Secretary, Cox’s Bazar Hotel, Motel Owners Association, told UNB. Chowdhury, also Managing Director of Hotel The Cox Today, said weekly holidays, Christmas Day (Dec 23, 24, 25 and Dec 30, 31) contributed to the huge jump in the tourist inflow.
The newly built posh hotels are also doing brisk business as tourists keep flocking Cox’s Bazar. “We’re fully booked except a few suites….I think this trend will continue until early January,” Mahbub Hossain, Sales Executive at Sayeman Beach Resort, told UNB mentioning that they have 228 guestrooms, including 16 Panorama Ocean Suites. Talking to this correspondent, Mohammed Munir Hossain, Operation and Finance Manager at Royal Beach Resort, said the beach town witnessed a grand opening of their hotel on December 20. “The feedback we’re getting is more than what we had expected. Since December 23, tourists’ inflow has reached its peak,” Hossain said. Though Cox’s Bazar is now overflowed with tourists from different parts of the country, the UNB correspondent saw very few foreign tourists.
Talking to the news agency, senior French journalist Bruno Philip said it was a small place with a very few people and few hotels when he had visited Cox’s Bazar in 1992.
“Now the changes are absolutely amazing. It’s tremendous. I think it shows how Bangladesh has changed a lot over the past 25 years,” Bruno told UNB while walking on the sandy beach.
“I could hardly find any room…everything is booked. I think Cox’s Bazar symbolises the booming terrorism (in Bangladesh),” said the 57-year-old French journalist who landed in Cox’s Bazar on December 21.
Responding to a question, Bruno said he visited Teknaf and other parts of the beach which is much more beautiful with trees and quiet environment.
“I’ve to say it’s not my favorite place. I prefers that place (Teknaf) compared to Cox’s Bazar, which I find noisy and too modern for me,” he said. Bruno, however, said Cox’s Bazar is still a nice place for the people of Dhaka and other parts of the country to relax. There are some tourists who are extremely unhappy with the attitude of many hotels authorities except five star hotels. “Many of the general hotels cheat with tourists. Their restaurants charge unnecessarily high prices.
Even you’ll even be cheated by Tomtom (battery-run three-wheelers,” Ferdous Hasan came here with his school friends from Dhaka. However, the tourists expressed satisfaction over the security arrangements in hotels. “Our hotel is fully covered by CCTVs,” said Munir Hossain at Royal Beach Resort. Munir, however, said there are many things to do from the administration’s side to fully tap the tourism potential in Cox’s Bazar.
“There should be a bypass road to divert busses outside from main roads close to the beach to avoid vexing noise. There should be footpaths and overpasses, too.” Cox’s Bazar now has combined the capacity to accommodate over 80,000 tourists at around 400 hotels, motels and guesthouses, industry insiders say. Of the hotel, motels, 25 hotels claimed to be five star and three star standards. Of the total 80,000 accommodation, five percent tourists come every year from different countries.
The beach town of Cox’s Bazar, the country’s hottest tourist spot, is now overcrowded with tourists, mostly the local ones, forcing posh hotels to turn away many guests. The tourist city has been witnessing an increased flow of tourists from different parts of the country since December 16 but the flow reached its peak on December 23.
“All the top raking hotels are now fully booked. This trend will continue till December 31 but there might be fluctuations (tourists flow) from December 26-28,” Mohammed Abdul Kauiam Chowdhury, General Secretary, Cox’s Bazar Hotel, Motel Owners Association, told UNB. Chowdhury, also Managing Director of Hotel The Cox Today, said weekly holidays, Christmas Day (Dec 23, 24, 25 and Dec 30, 31) contributed to the huge jump in the tourist inflow.
The newly built posh hotels are also doing brisk business as tourists keep flocking Cox’s Bazar. “We’re fully booked except a few suites….I think this trend will continue until early January,” Mahbub Hossain, Sales Executive at Sayeman Beach Resort, told UNB mentioning that they have 228 guestrooms, including 16 Panorama Ocean Suites. Talking to this correspondent, Mohammed Munir Hossain, Operation and Finance Manager at Royal Beach Resort, said the beach town witnessed a grand opening of their hotel on December 20. “The feedback we’re getting is more than what we had expected. Since December 23, tourists’ inflow has reached its peak,” Hossain said. Though Cox’s Bazar is now overflowed with tourists from different parts of the country, the UNB correspondent saw very few foreign tourists.
Talking to the news agency, senior French journalist Bruno Philip said it was a small place with a very few people and few hotels when he had visited Cox’s Bazar in 1992.
“Now the changes are absolutely amazing. It’s tremendous. I think it shows how Bangladesh has changed a lot over the past 25 years,” Bruno told UNB while walking on the sandy beach.
“I could hardly find any room…everything is booked. I think Cox’s Bazar symbolises the booming terrorism (in Bangladesh),” said the 57-year-old French journalist who landed in Cox’s Bazar on December 21.
Responding to a question, Bruno said he visited Teknaf and other parts of the beach which is much more beautiful with trees and quiet environment.
“I’ve to say it’s not my favorite place. I prefers that place (Teknaf) compared to Cox’s Bazar, which I find noisy and too modern for me,” he said. Bruno, however, said Cox’s Bazar is still a nice place for the people of Dhaka and other parts of the country to relax. There are some tourists who are extremely unhappy with the attitude of many hotels authorities except five star hotels. “Many of the general hotels cheat with tourists. Their restaurants charge unnecessarily high prices.
Even you’ll even be cheated by Tomtom (battery-run three-wheelers,” Ferdous Hasan came here with his school friends from Dhaka. However, the tourists expressed satisfaction over the security arrangements in hotels. “Our hotel is fully covered by CCTVs,” said Munir Hossain at Royal Beach Resort. Munir, however, said there are many things to do from the administration’s side to fully tap the tourism potential in Cox’s Bazar.
“There should be a bypass road to divert busses outside from main roads close to the beach to avoid vexing noise. There should be footpaths and overpasses, too.” Cox’s Bazar now has combined the capacity to accommodate over 80,000 tourists at around 400 hotels, motels and guesthouses, industry insiders say. Of the hotel, motels, 25 hotels claimed to be five star and three star standards. Of the total 80,000 accommodation, five percent tourists come every year from different countries.
