Tourism industry at Saint Martin struggling to stay afloat

Saint Martin's Island off the southern coast of Cox's Bazar is usually abuzz with tourists this time each year, but the ongoing nationwide strikes and blockades have put a damper on the local tourism industry.

At present, around 400 tourists are visiting the island each day, which houses around 200 hotels and resorts, according to local business-people.

Saint Martin's is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Bangladesh as the country's sole coral island is famous for its blue ocean and scenic view.

The peak tourist season runs from October to April when the Bay of Bengal is calm enough to ensure safe travel to the island, which is nine kilometres from the mainland.

Hossainul Islam Bahadur, senior vice president of the Tour Operators Association of Cox's Bazar, said they witnessed an onrush of tourists at the end of September when the government gave approval for cruise ships to carry tourists to the island.

"So, we got a good number of tourists throughout October, but their presence fell drastically from November due to the strikes and blockades called by BNP and its allies," added Bahadur, who owns a cruise ship called Boro Awlia.

Currently, just three ships with a combined passenger handling capacity of about 1,600 are plying on the Teknaf-Saint Martin's route with some 400 to 500 tourists every day.

Against this backdrop, the operators of passenger ships are not being able to pay salaries to their staff and only the fuel costs can be recovered from such slow business.

There are eight cruise ships on this route with a total handling capacity of around 4,000 people. However, five of the ships have now remained idle, Bahadur added.

Bahadur also said that cruise ship owners like him had been waiting for the October-April season as they are banned from operating in other months.

"But this season we are incurring huge losses for the political unrest."

Apart from Boro Awlia, just two other cruise ships -- Keari Sindbad and Atlantic Cruise -- are currently operating on the Teknaf-Saint Martin's route as there are almost no tourists, said Md Jahir Ahmed Bhuiyan, traffic supervisor of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.

Usually, 4,500 to 5,000 tourists visit Saint Martin's every day during the peak season, he added.

Amzad Hossain, in charge of Atlantic Bay Resort, said the volume of tourists has fallen to 5 percent from the usual levels.

"Besides, the small number of travellers that are coming mostly stay at low-priced hotels, piling up losses on standard hotels and resorts."

Hossain said many hotel owners are struggling to pay salaries to their staff amid the downturn.

"Hospitality service providers have invested significantly for the renovation and beautification of their establishments this year. However, they have ended up incurring huge losses for the scarcity of tourists."

Mujibar Rahman, chairman of Saint Martin's union parishad, said the island has around 10,000 inhabitants, 95 percent of whom depend on the tourism industry for an income.

"Their earnings have almost stopped since there are few tourists. So, they are passing days in hardship."

Rahman also informed that locals use their earnings from the peak season to run their families year-round.

"But their incomes have been hit by the blockades and strikes."