Holidaymaking abroad

Ashiqur Rahman has planned something big this Eid.

He would take a trip to Malaysia with his four-member family on July 7. The private banker in the capital has already got the visa and completed all preparations.

"We've a plan for a week-long vacation. Time and scope for a family outing outside the country is hard to get. We got the chance this time and don't want to miss it," said Ashiqur.

This will be the first trip for the 40-year-old with his family outside the country. They plan to visit Langkawi and Penang Island.

"I hope it would be a great trip for my kids," he said.

Ashiqur, however, is not alone to seek a quiet getaway during Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the biggest Muslim religious festivals. Like him, a huge number of local vacationers are preparing to celebrate the Eid at tourist destinations both at home and abroad.

Country's tourism industry expects good business this Eid as some 13 lakh government employees will get a nine-day vacation starting on Friday. Hotel and resort operators received a lot of bookings in the run-up to the festival with some offering special packages.

Although several lakh people will go to their village homes to celebrate the festival braving difficulties on the way, the number of people travelling abroad or visiting domestic tourism spots during this Eid vacation is increasing with income of the middle-class people rising.

Tour operators say tourists on the home front would mainly head towards the country's main tourist destination, Cox's Bazar, the longest unbroken sea beach (about 125km long) in the world, during the Eid holidays.

Most hotels and motels in the beach town have already received a huge number of bookings in advance.

"The response we are getting from the tourists this year is greater than those in the past few years," said Mohiuddin Khan Khokon, director of sales and marketing at Hotel The Cox Today, a luxury hotel in Cox's Bazar.

He said the hotel is fully booked for July 8 and 9 with a few rooms available the next day.

Khokon, however, said more people would have travelled had there been a direct train to Cox's Bazar. “People want to travel and if the journey is smooth and cheap. This would boost domestic tourism significantly."

There are around 300 hotels, motels and guesthouses in Cox's Bazar which can accommodate over 68,000 people, said Abul Kashem Sikder, general secretary of Cox's Bazar Hotel-Motel and Guesthouse Owners Association.

"If the weather is favourable, about 2 lakh tourists may flock to Cox's Bazar a day after Eid," said Kashem.

Besides Cox's Bazar, domestic travellers will also flock to other tourist spots like Rangamati, Bandarban, Sylhet and St Martin's Island.

There are around 18 hotels and motels in Rangamati which are ready to handle the rush.

Sahadat Hossain, assistant manager of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, Rangamati, said the motels and guesthouses already have received 90 percent of bookings for the Eid vacation.

Sylhet, too, has been attracting a good number of tourists.

The occupancy rate is so far good at Nazimgarh Garden Resort in Khadimnagar and Nazimgarh Wilderness in Jaintapur, said its manager Hasan Murshed.

He, however, said things would be clear four to five days before the Eid as some people have to cancel bookings that time failing to get transport.

For travellers wishing to be near the city, there are resorts near Gazipur.

"For a break from the humdrum of everyday lives in Dhaka, going to nearby places is the best solution. It saves time and is economical as well," said Ishrat Jahan, who has booked a resort in Gazipur for two days after Eid.

Greentech Resort and Convention Centre, a popular resort in Gazipur, has 73 rooms and can accommodate 150 guests.

About two hours' drive from Dhaka, the resort has already registered around 70 percent advance bookings, said Nayan Talukdar, manager of the resort.

"There are still a few days to go before Eid, and we hope to be fully booked," he said.

Apart from domestic tours, a large number of people now go abroad on holiday. Tour operators and airlines are rolling out promotional packages.

This year the number of outbound travellers will be higher than that of the domestic vacationers, according to industry insiders.

"People increasingly tend to take Eid vacation as an opportunity for holidaying. Nearly 2.5 lakh Bangladeshis are expected to go abroad this Eid," said Taufiq Rahman, director of Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB).

The outbound travellers will tour countries such as India, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and a few European countries, he said, adding many of the travellers will go before the Eid due to the long vacation.

Explaining the reasons, the TOAB director said simplified visa processing and cheaper prices of air tickets are the reasons for the increase in outbound tourism.

"You can go to Nepal or Bhutan on a three-day trip with a cost of only around Tk 40,000," Toufiq said.

Borhan Uddin, chief executive officer of Green Holidays Tours, said an increased number of tourists would go mostly to India as the country simplified the visa procedure. People would also go to Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Thailand due to low travel costs.

Milon Hossain, an official of Miaz Tours and Travels, another tour operator, said the travellers would fly to Indonesia as the country is giving on-arrival visas. His agency will also arrange foreign visits for around 100 local people.

Domestic travel and tourism directly contributed Tk 407.6 billion or 2.4 percent to the country's GDP last year. This is expected to rise to 5.2 percent this year, World Travel and Tourism Council said in its latest study.