Cox's Bazar ready for Eid holiday - কক্সবাজার কন্ঠ

বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৫ এপ্রিল ২০২৪ ১২ই বৈশাখ, ১৪৩১ বঙ্গাব্দ

বৃহস্পতিবার

প্রকাশ :  ২০২২-০৫-০১ ১২:১২:২৩

Cox’s Bazar ready for Eid holiday

Jasim Uddin Siddiqui : Cox’s Bazar beach is in a tourist vacuum due to holy Ramadan and intense heat. There is also stagnation in hotel-motel, restaurant and tourist dependent business.

There is only quiet silence across the beach. Cox’s Bazar is now ready to break this silence. Cox’s Bazar has been redesigned to welcome millions of tourists during the Eid holidays. Hotels and restaurants are being cleaned.
Besides, small traders and hawkers are preparing for new ventures to serve tourists. The roar of the waves on the noise-free beach for a few days and the sea-stalks scattering stalks in the sand dunes are also calling the tourists with their hands.

Only Cox’s Bazar has the opportunity to see all the unique beauties of nature in the combination of mountains, sea, rivers, rhymes and springs. So people come to Cox’s Bazar on special days and public holidays.

Cox’s Bazar, the country’s main tourist destination, has been closed for nine and a half months due to corona infection in the last two years. At that time the two Eids of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha were also under restrictions. This time after two years, the next Eid will be celebrated on the beach.

The tourism businessmen are expecting millions of tourists. Concerned parties say that on August 19 last year, the corona restrictions were relaxed and the beach was opened for tourists. However, during this time a number of negative events occurred in the industry.

However, it is learned that all measures have been taken to prevent harassment and ensure services to the tourists.
Traders say the government has been closed for six consecutive days since Friday (April 30). .Eid will be on 2 or 3 May, subject to the sighting of the moon. The day before that, May Day is closed. All in all, there is a public holiday until next Wednesday (May 4). After opening one day on Thursday, it is again a two-day weekly holiday. As such, this Eid is a continuous holiday. These holidays are considered by the tourism businessmen as the last tourist gathering of this year.
Visiting Kalatali area of hotel-motel zone, it is seen that cleanliness and beautification work is going on in hotels, guest houses and resorts. The restaurants are being redesigned. Nasir Uddin, director of Shalik Restaurant in Kalatali, said tourists were at zero during the month of Ramadan. For this, some decoration and color-lime work has been done in the restaurant.

Anwarul Islam Hiru, a kitkat (chair-umbrella) trader in the sand dunes of the beach, said he had not been able to raise his salary for months. I hope business will be better this Eid holiday.

Anwar Kamal, president of the Cox’s Bazar Tour Operators Association, said the tourism business was closed for the entire month of Ramadan. He hopes that more than one lakh tourists will gather ahead of the upcoming Eid.

A search of five-star hotels and resorts in Cox’s Bazar shows that 50 to 60 per cent of the rooms have already been booked. Some hotels are offering 10 to 25 percent discount to attract tourists.

Abul Kashem Sikder, president of Cox’s Bazar Hotel Motel, Guest House and Resort Owners’ Association, said the city has more than 500 hotels, motels, guest houses and resorts accommodating about 160,000 tourists. Already 50 percent of the rooms have been booked. .The rest of the rooms are likely to be booked before Eid.

He added that tourists are actually the best at booking online. Then you don’t have to face any problem.

Mohammad Mukim Khan, general secretary of the Kalatali Marine Drive Hotel Resort Owners’ Association, said there were fewer tourists during the month of Ramadan and in the summer. But this time there were very few tourists.

We hope that millions of tourists will flock to this holiday season. .Everyone is well prepared for this. He also said that the safety and services of tourists need to be taken into consideration.

Cox’s Bazar tourist police superintendent Zillur Rahman said there are round-the-clock tourist police patrols at beaches and tourist centers for the safety and service of tourists. The police have taken all necessary measures considering the fact that there will be a huge influx of tourists during the Eid holidays. Besides, drinking water and first aid services are also provided for the tourists at the beach.

In this regard, Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner Mamunur Rashid said, this Eid is a long holiday. Therefore, there is a possibility of more tourist gatherings. .In the meantime, I am coordinating with all the stakeholders related to tourism. So that the tourists get good service.

He further said that hotels, motels and restaurants should not be charged extra money. In other cases, to prevent harassment and ensure safe travel for tourists, multiple mobile courts led by executive magistrates will be on the ground at the beach and nearby recreation centers, the deputy commissioner said.

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