Star hotels face Covid déjà vu 

The hotel industry is facing a shock similar to the one they had faced during the pandemic as the recent violence and subsequent curfew across Bangladesh triggered a sharp drop in occupancy rates and withdrawals of bookings by both regular and corporate visitors.

The average occupancy rates of star hotels have plunged to 10%-15% from the usual 60%-80% of rooms seen in regular business days, according to the Bangladesh International Hotel Association (BIHA).

Luxury hotels across the country, including the tourism hub Cox's Bazar, have witnessed cancellations of almost all reservation for the remaining days in July and some in August.

Industry insiders said accepting new reservations from abroad remain halted for about a week due to the internet blackout. Besides, several foreign countries have issued travel alert about Bangladesh, and foreign guests suspended their business tours.

BIHA President Hakim Ali, who owns Hotel Agrabad in Chattogram, said his hotel has witnessed a loss of around Tk1 crore, resulting from occupancy fall and cancellation of bookings.

"This time of the year, all hotels usually see satisfactory occupancy rates but the unexpected turmoil brought back the memories of the Covid era. We are yet to estimate the business losses, but it would be no less than Tk1,000 crore in registered star hotels combined," he said.

"My hotel has 100 rooms, but only 14 of them are currently occupied by guests. Normally, 60-70 rooms remain occupied during this time of the year," Hakim said.

According to BIHA, the country has 55 registered star hotels. Besides, there are around 2,000 luxury hotels which do not have any star ratings. Approximately one lakh people working these establishments.

Intercontinental Dhaka is a five-star establishment having 226 rooms. The current occupancy rate in the hotel is 15%-18%, according to the Sales Department of the hotel.

"All the reservations for this month have already been cancelled. Many guests have left the hotel in the last few days," Saiful Islam, sales manager at Intercontinental Hotel told TBS.

Another Five star hotel Westin Dhaka in Gulshan area is seeing a 20% occupancy rate.

"We anticipate more booking cancellations after the internet connection is restored," said a Westin official.

Meanwhile, hoteliers have also lost a significant amount of revenue they could have earned from corporate events such as seminars and workshops.

"We were booked with corporate events this month but the situation has turned for the worse," said Khaled-Ur-Rahman, managing director of the Golden Tulip Dhaka Grand Mark, a four-star hotel in Capital's Banani.

"In general, most of the guests from abroad book hotel through travel websites and apps such as booking.com, Trip Adviser, etc. The internet blackout disabled the entire system. Even, telephone conversations were not smooth," he said.

Khaled said foreign guests who were supposed to come to Dhaka for business meetings, are changing their destination to India's Kolkata.

Cox's Bazar guestless

The tourism city of Cox's Bazar wore a deserted look without guests. Only a few who went there before the unrest and curfew remain stranded in some hotels.

"Me and my wife and some staffs are now occupying three rooms among 250. We have no guests at this moment. Cox's Bazar has turned into a ghost city," said Abdul Quader Mishu, director of the Ocean Paradise hotel, a five-star establishment. 

One of the popular tourist destinations in Cox's Bazar is the Sea Pearl Hotel and Spa.

It has 478 rooms but only six of them are now occupied. The hotel lost 98% bookings for the remaining days of July, according to hotel sources.