Tourism spots thrive with Eid holidaymakers 

Hundreds of people thronged different popular tourism spots across the country as the Eid-ul-Fitr provided the dwellers of different cities with the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of nature after a long time.

The country's popular tourist spots including Cox's Bazar, Sundarbans, Jaflong in Sylhet and Chimbuk Hill in Bandarban were crowded with a good number of tourists during the Eid holidays.

However, a small incident disrupted the festive atmosphere when some volunteers appointed by the local administration beat a group of tourists at Jaflong in Sylhet on Thursday, following an altercation over price of tickets.

Tourists' number not as per expectations in Cox's Bazar

The expected number of tourists did not visit Cox's Bazar, the world's longest natural sea beach, during the Eid holidays, said the tourism traders. 

According to the sources, more than three lakh tourists visited the sea beach during the three days of Eid.

Mukim Khan, general secretary of Kalatali Marine Drive Hotel Resort Owners Association, said, "On Thursday, the number of tourists in Cox's Bazar was more than 120,000. The same number of tourists will stay on Friday also. On Saturday, the number will be around 60,000, and from Sunday, the number will become insignificant."

He said, "It cannot be called the expected number of tourists. However, there is nothing disappointing. The traders are happy with this number of tourists."

Abdur Rahman, president of the Greater Beach Traders Association, has his own residential hotel and restaurant. "By Thursday, we had 100% bookings at the hotel, though it was 80% during the first two days of Eid. However, many tourists come during the day and return at the end of the day."

No extra crowds in Bandarban

Bandarban becomes a popular tourist attraction when Eid comes. To get close to nature, city dwellers rush to Meghla, Nilachal, Nilgiri, and Chimbuk hill, turning every spot crowded with tourists. 

But this year's Eid, no additional crowd was seen at any of the popular tourist spots of the district.

People involved in the tourism business said that many tourists do not stay in the city now. They stay at new tourist centres that have sprung up at the upazila level. For this reason, the tourist centres around the city were not as crowded as before during the Eid holidays.

Sirajul Islam, general secretary of the Bandarban Residential Hotel-Motel Owners' Association, said, "It was too hot before the Eid and on the first and second days of Eid heavy downpours hampered the celebration. It seems that the crowd of tourists has decreased due to these reasons."

Many visit Sundarbans to come close to nature

Hundreds of tourists travelled to the Sundarbans to get close to nature during Eid holidays.

Nature lovers have come to see the Sundarbans from different parts of the country including the capital. Around 3,000 tourists travelled to the Satkhira Range in western Sundarbans in three days of Eid. There were no vacancies at the Borsha Resort in the coastal Sundarbans. 

Raju Ahmed, manager of Borsha Resort, said that at present the resort is well crowded. All the rooms are booked. Tourists from different districts have come to visit the Sundarbans during the Eid holidays. The rooms will be empty after 8 April."

All hotel-resorts booked in Moulvibazar

After the Eid celebration was disrupted by the pandemic during the last two years, scores of tourists thronged to different tourist spots of Moulvibazar during the Eid holidays this year.

All the rooms of about 75 hotels and resorts in Srimangal were booked even 10/12 days before the Eid.

Shamsul Haque, general secretary of Srimangal Tourism Services, said that the crowd of tourists is much higher this time and the excitement among the tourists is also higher. "We have our own eco-resort which was booked 15 days ago. No hotel or resort is vacant at the moment in Srimangal," he said.

Jerin Shravan, a private job holder, came to visit from Dhaka on the Eid day. She said, "This year, there is a little more excitement than the last two years. I came here to visit thinking that there will be more crowds from the day after the Eid. I am now going back to mechanical life after staying two days with my loved ones."

Volunteers beat tourists in Jaflong

Volunteers appointed by the upazila administration have attacked tourists in Jaflong, a tourist area of Gowainghat upazila in Sylhet. Several people were injured in the attack.

The incident of beating six tourists including men, women and children took place in front of the ticket counter of Jaflong tourist area around 2pm Thursday, following an altercation over price of tickets.

Several videos of the incident went viral on social media Facebook. In such a video, it is seen that a group of tourists are being beaten by three volunteers, wearing blue uniforms, with sticks in their hands. At that time, some female tourists in the group went to stop them and were humiliated.

Later, locals and other tourists came forward and rescued the tourists.

Gowainghat Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Tahmilur Rahman claimed to The Business Standard that the group of tourists wanted to enter the Jaflong area without tickets, triggering an altercation between the tourists and the volunteers at the ticket counter. "At one stage, the volunteers attacked the tourists," he said.

The UNO said, "Our tourism will suffer a lot. Since the attackers are our volunteers, I take the responsibility. We have already fired three volunteers and asked the local police to take legal action against them."

Gowainghat police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) KM Nazrul Islam said, "We have identified the volunteers and arrested two of them. We are trying to arrest the rest."

Kuakata flooded with tourists 

Kuakata sea beach in Patuakhali was flooded with tourists coming to celebrate the Eid holidays.

The number of tourists has been increasing since the afternoon of the Eid Day. 

All the hotels, motels, guest houses were booked for the three days after the Eid day, according to sources concerned.

"After two years of pandemic, we have got a chance to visit this place. We are feeling very fresh arriving here. But, now the place is overcrowded." Said Sharmin Akter, a tourist from Barishal city area. 

"We are making a good profit now. The huge number of guests may continue till next Saturday," said Motaleb Hossain, the secretary of Kuakata Hotel Motel Association. 

During the three days of Eid, Tk5-Tk10 crore transaction has been made approximately, he added.