Bangladeshi tourists struggle in Kolkata amid mass lodging closure, soaring tariffs

Bangladeshi tourists, particularly medical travellers, are struggling to find affordable accommodation in Kolkata after a post-fire safety crackdown forced several budget hotels and guest houses to shut or stop accepting guests.

The hotel closures began after a fire at Shikha Inn on Mirza Ghalib Street in central Kolkata on 19 August killed nine people, including seven Bangladeshis. Since then, authorities have stepped up fire-safety inspections and shut hotels that failed to meet safety requirements.

The central Kolkata neighbourhoods of Marquis Street, Mirza Ghalib Street, Lindsay Street, Free School Street, Sudder Street and Collins Lane are particularly popular with Bangladeshi visitors because of their concentration of budget accommodation and proximity to medical facilities and commercial areas.

With many hotels in the area now closed, visitors reported that the remaining hotels were charging higher rates, in some cases more than double the usual price.

A Bangladeshi woman and her sister, who is undergoing cancer treatment, were left without accommodation after the hotel they had checked into was closed the following day.

The sisters, from Uttara in Dhaka, had travelled to Kolkata for treatment and follow-up appointments at Tata Medical Centre.

"We came to Kolkata on 3 September and got a mammogram done at the Tata Medical Centre. The report will come on 8 September. After the follow-up, we are supposed to return home the next day. We had not anticipated this situation," the patient's sister said, according to the Times of India.

The sisters had regularly stayed at Hotel Arfaan International since 2020 because of its affordability.

"The hotel rooms are clean, the staff friendly, and the tariff is only Rs1,000 a night. That is why we stayed in Arfaan. But now there is a crisis. Where will we go?" she said.

Another Bangladeshi visitor, businessman Sheikh Saidul Islam from Jashore, said he was shopping at New Market when hotel staff called him and asked him to vacate because the property was being shut.

He said he had been paying Rs900 a night at Hotel Arfaan, while alternative hotels were charging between Rs2,000 and Rs2,500.

Similarly, Khurshid Alam, who travelled with his wife and five-year-old daughter for the child's follow-up treatment after open-heart surgery last year, said their pre-booked hotel was closed when they arrived in Kolkata.

"I was looking for a budget hotel within Rs1,000 a night but could not find one in the Marquis Street area," he added.

The crackdown has reduced the supply of low-cost accommodation in central Kolkata. At least 52 hotels in central Kolkata were reported to have been forced to shut in the days immediately following the fire, while more establishments faced notices or inspections.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation had also issued closure notices to several guest houses and hotels for alleged violations of fire-safety and other regulatory requirements.

Rajesh Sethi, president of the Calcutta Hotel & Restaurant Owners' Association, said the authorities should have allowed hotels some time to help guests arrange alternative accommodation.

"This is harassment for guests from across the border. They have to look for other hotels and don't know whether even those will be closed down," he said.

The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata has since advised Bangladeshis travelling to the city for medical treatment or other purposes to confirm hotel bookings, room availability and hotel locations before travelling.

In an advisory issued on 3 September, the mission also urged travellers to check the distance between their hotels and medical facilities and not to travel to Kolkata without confirmed accommodation.

The advisory came as Kolkata authorities continued their crackdown on hotels and guest houses following the 19 August fire, with officials warning that some establishments could take weeks to reopen as they work to meet safety requirements.