Hospitality industry suffers from fresh wave of pandemic
Tourists have started cancelling their bookings amid a fresh wave of Covid-19 infections across the country, which threatens to derail recovery in the local hospitality industry.
Businesses related to tourism had just started recovering from the coronavirus fallout thanks to the return of holidaymakers during winter, according to industry insiders.
However, the progress made in this regard could be in jeopardy if the recent surge in infections continues.
"Over Tk 2 crore bookings for rooms till Ramadan have been cancelled so far," said Mohammad Asaduzzaman Nur, accounts and finance manager of Sayeman Beach Resort in Cox's Bazar.
This trend has continued since March 18 as travellers have become more cautious, he told The Daily Star on Tuesday.
The occupancy rate in the 240-room hotel was 80 per cent in February and the first half of March.
"As our customers are mainly affluent, they are more cautious than other people," Nur added.
Nur also urged the people to not worry as much and simply maintain their hygiene and other prevention guidelines while on vacation.
"Many people will lose their jobs if the sector collapses again," he said.
Rashed Chowdhury, head of sales at the 190-room Seagull Hotel, said the hotel business was just starting to come out of a Covid-induced slump.
"But now, we are smelling another danger," he added.
Around 30 to 40 per cent of Seagull's existing bookings were cancelled in the last few days.
According to Chowdhury, business during winter was satisfactory and helped recover some of their previous losses.
Bangladesh's hospitality industry was the first to feel the effects of the ongoing pandemic and is forecasted to be the last to recover even though the economy has reopened.
Hotels and resorts in tourist destinations started their slow recovery in August last year, after the lockdown measures and other restrictions were slowly eased.
"But now we are receiving calls from our clients requesting us to cancel their bookings," said Arifur Rahman, managing director of The Palace Luxury Resort, which is located in a remote village in Habiganj district.
The resort, which has 100 rooms and 32 villas and employs about 390 people, has been witnessing good business since August last year.
"Especially on the weekends, turnover was 75 to 80 per cent in the last few months," Rahman said. "But since last week, some customers are cancelling their bookings while others are delaying their arrival dates."
If this trend continues, business would drop to below 50 per cent, he added.
However, according to Rashed Mahmud, managing director of Grace Cox, which has 70 rooms, the plateau in new cases will not affect the hospitality industry until the start of Ramadan.
"Our occupancy rate is 70 per cent today. If the rise in infections doesn't reach the worst levels, business will only be slightly affected."
Grace Cox is also facing growing requests for booking cancellations.
"10 per cent to 20 per cent bookings are getting cancelled," Mahmud said, adding that the occupancy would have been over 75 per cent till Ramadan had the rate of infections remained low.
Even big hotels like Hotel The Cox Today, which has 272 rooms and regularly hosts corporate events, have already been hit by the new wave of coronavirus.
"Even three week ago, we had to turn off the phones because of a myriad of requests for room and event bookings. But in the last 10 days, over 50 per cent of our bookings have been cancelled," said Abdul Kaium Chowdhury, managing director of Hotel The Cox Today.
If the situation worsens, the government should propose a stimulus package for the hospitality industry in order to help it survive.
"My hotel didn't get anything from the previous stimulus package and to my knowledge no hotel in Cox's Bazar got anything from that but we are one of the worst hit by the pandemic," Chowdhury said.
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