A scenic view of Cox's Bazar beach. Guesthouses and hotels in most attractive tourist spots have almost been booked out ahead of Eid holidays.Photo: Zobaer Hossain Sikder

Guesthouses and hotels in tourist spots have almost been booked out due to pressure from local tourists seeking to spend long Eid holidays with their loved ones.
Industry people said the tourist flow would double this year as the Eid and Durga Puja, the two major festivals, will be observed in a space of a week.
The increased flow is fed by a growing habit of the urban middleclass to travel inside the country at affordable prices.
Ninety percent of the hotels and resorts in Cox's Bazar, the country's main tourist spot, have recorded full early bookings, said industry people.
Motel Shoibal, the biggest motel of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation in Cox's Bazar, has been booked in advance early this month for a week after the Eid.
“Usually, the tourism season starts in mid-October but this year it will start at the beginning of the month due to the Eid and Durga Puja,” said Sujit Barua, general manager of the motel.
He said the habit of urban middleclass to travel inside the country during festivals has developed much in the past five years, and 30 percent of the total income comes during this period.
Shoibal has five exclusive cottages, 62 rooms and a dormitory with an accommodation capacity of 300 guests, Barua said.
The tourist flow will continue through the next 15 days after the Eid day, but the flow will peak a week after the vacation.
There are around 65 hotels and motels in Cox's Bazar with a combination of plush five-star hotel and low-end hotels and motels.
Seagull, a five-star hotel in Cox's Bazar, has registered around 95 percent booking, said Masoom Iqbal, managing director of the hotel. The rest of the occupancy is reserved for government officials.
He said the bookings made are mainly for the next week after Eid and most of the tourists are local people from across the country.
Mid-end hotels in Cox's Bazar, such as Albatross, have also been fully booked for five days after Eid, said Faysal Tito, manager of the hotel.
Besides Cox's Bazar, other tourist spots such as Rangamati, Kuakata, Bandarban and St Martin's island are also popular to the domestic tourists and are getting good response.
Nazrul Islam, project head of BPC's newly established Mirinja Tourist Complex at Bandarban, said they have registered around 65 percent advance bookings. "We will take booking until Eid."
Rezaul Raihan, general manager of Blue Marine resort in St Martin's island, also said occupancy rates remain high during Eid and the festival plays a big role for encouraging domestic tourism even beyond the peak season from mid-October to March.
Along with the country's major tourist belt in the southern region, tourists will also flock to different other resorts, and early bookings are high there.
There are around 20 resorts in the country -- all built in private initiatives, and among them at least 12 resorts are open to the public.
The resorts such as Jamuna and Elenga close to Jamuna Bridge, Royal Resort in Tangail, Blue Marine in St Martin's, Zastate and Nazim Garh in Sylhet have already been booked.
ANM Shahjahan, project manager of Jamuna Resort, said the resort with 110 rooms has been booked out for five days after Eid.
“We have already registered 70 percent reservation even for the Eid day and it's quite common in recent years to gain 100 percent occupancy in times of festivals,” he said.
The tourism trend has driven many tour operators to offer holiday packages to different tourist spots in the country.
Different tour operators such as the Guide Tours, River and Green, and Unique Tours Bangladesh are offering tour packages for Eid.
Complaints linger.
Many tourists claimed that most hotels and motels in Cox's Bazar are overcharging for advance booking.
But the hotel owners and management denied the complaints.
Shafique Alam Mehdi, chairman of BPC, said the changed lifestyle has been a major reason for the domestic tourism boost.
“This year Cox's Bazar will attract more tourists, as it battles to win the top position of the New Seven Natural Wonders of the world,” he said.
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