Leave the beach lovers in peace!

We boast the world's longest sea beach and its roaring waves casting a mesmerising spell on visitors to the majestic landscape. No wonder it has been one of the most frequented tourist destinations for local travellers, and barring a short-lived terror-stricken lull, the flow of foreign tourists into Cox's Bazar is slowly gathering pace. At a time like this, we cannot let the gradually building tourist momentum dissipate as visitors are subjected to man-made irritants even though they are avoidable.

Peace and tranquility seekers in  Cox' Bazar, it is learnt courtesy of an on-spot report by a reputed English daily, are ruffled by beggars, street children, mobile traders and photographers. Child beggars pester tourists for alms. Foreigners are the worst sufferers being deemed as affluent though they may be on an economy-budget tour package. Sometimes the beggars tug at their shirt sleeves or just pull their hands to draw attention, if not sympathy, unexpected of a flustered victim!

The harassment of tourists, particularly foreigners, can come in different forms, most very off-putting and coarse, blemishing our otherwise generous hospitality profile. Amateur singers, part-time photographers or small time mobile operators scramble for entertaining or  serving tourists completely stone-deaf to whether they want it or not.

Even those providing the usual facilities like speed boats, canopied chairs and photo shoot would charge exorbitant rates, refusal to pay provoking harassment. There are also allegations of extortionist behaviour meted out to them. Obviously, some standardisation of services and rates is imperative to rid the visitors of being short-changed and tormented in a place they had gone for quiet recreation.

On the main dream of making Cox's Bazar into an oasis of tourism, we note that there's a tourist police contingent in Cox's Bazar headed by an officer in the rank of Additional Superintendent of police. He reportedly said, "We have banned beggars, street children and mobile traders". Declaring a ban is one thing and implementing it is quite another. If he needs more manpower and equipment to implement the ban, let him have them without ado. We hope, however, that the gap between words and deeds is going to be removed soon with the deputy commissioner's initiatives getting  underway for 'conducting operations against them.'

 Beggary is socially, culturally and nationally demeaning, especially when set against our poverty alleviation successes. And, pestering in particular is anti-tourism and image-sapping for the country. But we need not be over-reactive rather be pre-emptive, taking the bigger picture of poverty eradication underpinned by markedly reducing economic inequalities.

If we look at the broader spectrum of the relationship between tourism and begging street children, this has been a subject matter of  research  by the International Eco-tourism Society Research Corner. An article by Cynthia Ord, University of the Balearic Islands titled, "Begging Question: The dilemma between tourism and street children" delves into the issue at length. Are tourism and begging correlated or does one follow as a casualty of the other? The question is answered, I would suggest, intelligibly, even if somewhat indirectly. It reads, "Responsible tourism is concerned that tourism may cause child begging, essentially creating a livelihood of beggary . . . for them." The position often requires donating to trustworthy NGOs instead of directly to a begging child.

The second angle 'assigns tourism a less casual  but an interesting flavour.' The presence of affluent foreigners promises a windfall for the begging children. It is said to be aligned to a very raw instinct of compassion - can giving a child in absolute poverty be a negative thing? Don't give guidelines to tourists, proclaims  such a  school of thought that basically regards a tourist's decision as a personal choice. In some cases, it is appropriate to give directly, so the argument goes with a caveat though, that children from scamming or crime ring backgrounds should be avoided. 

The Lonely Planet Travel Guides (Madagascar), not to encourage begging and reliance on hand-outs, recommended that non-monetary donations should be given to street children and the bulk of support should be funneled to aid organisations.

The statistical distribution of tourists runs amazingly counter to a prevailing notion that tourists from affluent countries may have developed a disenchantment with poorer countries. According to the UN World Tourism Report 2006, tourist arrivals in LDCs increased by 48 percent contrasted with a growth of 34 percent in all developing countries and 17 percent worldwide. 

The writer is a contributor of The Daily Star.   

Email: shahhusainimam@gmail.com