Cox’s Bazar's tourism sector has suffered a major blow as fears of flooding and relentless bad weather prompted the cancellation of around 50,000 hotel bookings over the past four days, leaving businesses facing an estimated Tk100 crore in losses.
Heavy rainfall, rough seas and adverse weather have brought tourism in the country's premier beach destination to a near standstill, with many visitors cutting short their trips and hundreds of tourism-dependent businesses forced to close.
A visit to the beach and several nearby hotels, resorts and guesthouses over the past two days found nearly half the rooms in more than 500 hotels vacant, while tourist activity along the shoreline had dropped sharply.
According to industry stakeholders, around 10,000 tourists remain in Cox’s Bazar, but many are leaving early because of the persistent rain and deteriorating weather conditions.
Abul Kashem Sikder, president of the Cox’s Bazar Hotel, Motel and Guesthouse Owners’ Association, said continuous bad weather has disrupted travel to the resort town.
Train services on the Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar route have been suspended, while waterlogging and traffic congestion at several points on the highway have hampered road communication, he said.
"Nearly 50,000 room bookings at more than 500 hotels, motels and resorts across the district have been cancelled over the past four days," he said.
"Although around 10,000 tourists are still staying in Cox’s Bazar, many are cutting short their trips because of the weather, causing substantial losses for hotel owners."
Tourism grinds to a halt
Laboni Beach wore an unusually deserted look on Thursday as continuous rain kept most visitors indoors.
The few tourists who ventured onto the beach returned to their hotels within a short time as the rain persisted.
Most beachside shops remained closed, while those that stayed open had virtually no customers.
Snack vendors, beach bike operators, chair and umbrella rental services, horse-riding operators and other tourism-dependent businesses have seen their income dry up as visitor numbers plummeted.
A similar situation prevailed at Sugandha and Kolatoli beach points.
Abid Ahsan Sagar, spokesperson for the Cox’s Bazar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the impact of the prolonged bad weather is being felt across the entire tourism sector.
"Hotels, resorts, restaurants, transport operators and small businesses that rely on tourism are all suffering," he said.
"We estimate the sector has already incurred losses of nearly Tk100 crore in just four days. If the weather does not improve, the losses will continue to mount."
Tourists leave early, workers lose income
Abid Hasan, a businessman from Mohammadpur in Dhaka who travelled to Cox’s Bazar with his wife and two children, said the family had planned to spend several days at the beach.
"Continuous rain kept us confined to our hotel. We came to the beach for a short while at my family's request, but we couldn't stay because of the weather," he said.
For thousands of workers whose livelihoods depend on tourism, the prolonged spell of bad weather has meant several days without earnings.
Beach bike operator Hafiz Uddin said his family's income depends entirely on renting bikes to tourists.
"Heavy rain and Local Cautionary Signal No 3 have kept tourists away," he said.
"I came to the beach today after three days, but I haven't earned anything."
