Tourism takes a beating

As the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise globally, so too does its impact on the country's tourism sector.

Many local and foreign tourists have been calling off their holiday plans amid cancellation of international and domestic flights.

As the outbreak has already turned into a pandemic, industry insiders said never had they suffered so badly before, and if the crisis prolongs, the industry would incur a huge loss.

The number of inbound tourists came down to almost zero in the last month. Gripped by the fear of getting infected, many local visitors have also cancelled their holiday plans to popular tourist destinations, forcing airlines operators to cut down their flights.

"We had faced setback after the Holey Artisan attack and political unrest during 2014-15, but the situation was never so grave," Md Rafeuzzaman, president of the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) said.

A fresh panic gripped people after two more people were diagnosed with COVID-19 in Bangladesh on Saturday, hours after the authorities announced that the first three cases were tested negative.

Over 3,000 were in home-quarantine with eight on isolation at different hospitals till yesterday, authorities said.

The government has taken several precautionary measures, including suspension of on-arrival visas for all countries and travel to and from Europe, except for England, until March 31. Besides, authorities asked people to avoid the crowd and public transports.

Talking to The Daily Star on Saturday, Rafeuzzaman said they were yet to assess the total loss of business but asked around 800 TOAB members to give details the loss they had incurred.

"We [tourism industry] are the worst victim of the coronavirus fallout," he said, adding they would hold a press conference on the effect of coronavirus on tourism industry today.

The TOAB has decided to postpone the 2020 edition of Bangladesh Travel and Tourism Fair, which was scheduled to take place on April 03-05, to October this year due to the prevailing situation.

Mohibul Haque, senior secretary of the civil aviation and tourism ministry, said the number of domestic tourists fell by 70 percent.

"If the situation prolongs further, the survival of the industry would be difficult," he said.

In Cox's Bazar, one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the country, the number of tourists has fallen down drastically in recent times, reports our correspondent there.

This is the peak season for holidaymakers to travel to Cox's Bazar and Saint Martin's island. Around one lakh tourists visit Cox's Bazar every day during this season.

"But currently, the number of tourists has reduced to half," said Tofael Ahmed, president of Tour Association of Cox's Bazar.

Mahbub Hossain Sumon, managing director at the Touch Creation Ltd, a travel agency, said two inbound tour packages -- one from Germany with 17 people and another from Japan with eight people -- slated for this month have already been cancelled.

Suhrawardy Hossain Sarwar, manager-in-charge (Dhaka office) of Keari Tours and Services Ltd that operates two ships that take tourists from Teknaf to Saint Martin's island, said the coronavirus outbreak hit hard on their business.

They usually sell 80 to 100 tickets every day during this season while the number dropped to only 15 on Saturday, he said.

"We got 220 bookings for March 26 but more than 30 bookings have been cancelled," Sarwar told this newspaper yesterday.

Suvenker Ghosh Rakesh, managing director of Shyamoli NR Travels, said they have already suspended bus services to India following India's sweeping travel restriction on foreigners to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

In Dhaka, reservation of almost all of the upscale hotels came down sharply.

"The occupancy rate of our hotel has plunged to below 30 per cent. The outbreak has taken a heavy toll on our business," Md Alamgir, managing director of Hotels International, the owning company of Sonargaon hotel, told The Daily Star on Saturday.

The hotel, which has about 278 rooms, witnessed nearly zero events in its ballroom during last one week. Similar scenarios are prevalent at almost every luxury hotel in Dhaka.

Mohibul Haque said they had to cancel 50 flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines on domestic routes due to a shortage of passengers.

On Saturday, Biman suspended 16 flights on four domestic routes -- Cox's Bazar, Saidpur, Rajshahi and Jashore -- between March 15-19.

In the last three months, Biman cancelled at least 250 flights on different international routes, incurring a loss of about Tk 230 crore.

(Our Cox's Bazar Correspondent Muhammad Ali Jinnat contributed the report)