Sylhet is reeling in the aftermath of the devastating floods as well as the recent inauguration of the Padma Bridge even as the region struggled to draw the attention of holidaymakers amid the Eid-ul-Azha season.
People involved in the tourism sector have expressed their concerns as the flood-hit region failed to recuperate the losses caused by the natural calamity during one of the busiest seasons of the year.
Sylhet Hotel, Motel and Guest House Owners Association President ATM Shoib said: “Eid is always a boom time for the tourism business. However, this time two of the hotels hardly had 8-10 rooms booked amongst hundreds of available rooms.”
Not only the hotels but also the restaurants, shopping malls, and transport businesses are struggling to make money due to the low number of tourists visiting the region, he added.
Hotel Fortune Garden Managing Director Sumaiyit Noori Jewel said: “No guests came to our hotel this Eid. The hotel room booking was completely nil. Such a situation has never happened before.”
Former director of Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry and MD of Rainbow Guest House Khandkar Shipar Ahmed said: “This was the biggest fall in the tourism industry since the Covid-19 pandemic started. Even when the pandemic started some tourists still came to Sylhet unlike this time.”
On the other hand, Sylhet City Corporation Ward-4 Councillor Rezaul Hasan Koyes Lodi said that he went with his family to Barisal on the Padma Bridge, describing the sight on the bridge as beautiful.
Similarly, Farukuzzaman Rana, general secretary of the Companiganj upazila unit of the Chhatra League in Sylhet, said he had visited the Padma Bridge with his friends during the Eid holidays.
Fakhar Uddin, a resident of Kalibari village adjacent to Sada Pathar in Companiganj said: “Even on the second day of Eid-ul-Azha, tourists didn’t visit the place which earlier they were wont to do.”
Local traders had hoped a large number of tourists would visit the place but their hopes were shattered, he added.
It is mentionable that hundreds of thousands of tourists came to Sylhet during Eid-ul-Fitr and the tourism business made a huge profit.
However, the number of tourists coming to Sylhet decreased due to unforeseen incidents of toll collection in Jaflong. Then intense flooding started in the region, further affecting the tourism industry. When some tourists came to Tanguar Haor by boat they were fined for breaking rules.
