Tourists have started gathering in different popular sites including Cox’s Bazar to celebrate Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of Bengali Hindus which begins on Monday.
The hotels are already booked and the authorities have stopped any new booking as the visitors will get three days of holiday in a row from Thursday – Puja vacation plus weekend.
Many are expected to leave the capital Dhaka on Wednesday to spend the holidays with family members, friends and relatives in any of the country’s tourist places – Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Bandarban, Sylhet, Moulvibazar and Sundarbans.
Tourists are also coming from neighbouring India, particularly from West Bengal state, to celebrate the Durga Puja festival with relatives and friends living in Bangladesh.
According to Deputy High Commission Office of Bangladesh in West Bengal capital Kolkata, more than one thousand Indians per day applied for Bangladeshi visa in last few days.
Bangladesh tourism sector has been badly affected by the political unrest in the recent years. The new influx of tourists after such incidents allows the sector to have a sigh of relief.
“This is a good moment. Almost all the packages for room booking have been sold out ahead of Durga Puja festival,” said Syed Yameenul Huq, head of sales, the Palace Luxury Resort in Sylhet.
“For last few years, during Durga Puja, the number of tourists has been increasing. This is a very positive sign for the tourism sector. Not only Hindu community, but also the people from all religions enjoy the holidays of the Durga Puja,” he said.
Humayun Kabir, manager of Cox Today Hotel, said as of now 80% rooms have been occupied.
“We are very much happy to witness the response from the customers. Whenever, people get vacation, they visits different tourist places,” he said.
Md Masum, an executive of Sayeman Beach Resort, said the hotel had been completely occupied ahead of the Durga Puja.
Rahat Ahmed, executive director of Plaza Bandarban hotel, said last year, the tourists presence in Bandarban was not satisfactory as the visitors didn’t get long vacation.
“But this year, situation is totally different due to the three-day holidays. We hope to recover our losses,” said Rahat Ahmed.
Tito Siddique, managing director and CEO of Excellence Asia Limited, said nearly 40 ships used for transporting tourists in Sundarbans area. “During Puja all the ships are booked by the travellers. Small wooden boats will even be needed to transport tourists due to the unexpected influx.”
“Around 5,000 tourists are expected to arrive in Sundarbans on Thursday and Friday from Mongla during the Durga Puja festival, while another 2,000 might come from Sathkhira,” he said.
