Political instability and post-Eid 48-hour countrywide shutdown called by Jamaat-e-Islami for August 13-14 have taken a heavy toll on tourism in the holy town as tourists, both from home and abroad, either cancelled or rescheduled their planned trips to the county’s major tourist hub.The tourism business linking hotels, motels, restaurants, transport sector and shrine-based small businesses have been badly affected due to the sharp fall in the number of tourists, according to industry insiders.The leaders of Sylhet Hotel Motel and Guest House Owners’ Association think political instability or post-Eid hartal are not only the reasons behind the sharp fall in tourist turnover in Sylhet.Association general secretary said, “hartal and unfavorable political climate are of the major reasons …there’re more reasons that played a role in reducing the number of tourists here this time,”He said unfavorable highway conditions, relocation of the central bus terminal, which is now quite far away from and internal problems like mismanagement are the factors that discourage holidaymakers to visit the holy town.However, the officials of hotels, motels, restaurants, transport sectors and locals think political instability and post-Eid hartal have dampened the spirit of people to go on vacationing.“The situation is quite frustrating… totally different from the previous year. We had to accommodate additional guests beyond our capacity last year after Eid. But this year, most of our studio apartments remained vacant.”He thinks the hartal called for Tuesday-Wednesday has been the main culprit behind the sharp fall in their business.Another official of the Sylhet Resort said “Some 70 percent guests have cancelled their bookings for hartal. The guests also apprehend that the hartal might be extended.”Manager of the Hotel Roseview said “Around 40 percent rooms are empty now. We had been expecting a good business. Simply unfavorable political environment is taking heavy toll on our business,”A sales executive of Unique bus services said there is no advance booking for tickets this time. “The passenger inflow is very low.”Sub-inspector, who is on additional duty under Sylhet Tourists Police, also said there is a lower presence of tourists from outside Sylhet.“Now you’re mostly local people. Tourists’ inflow from outside is very low this time.However, we’ve arranged adequate security measures for the tourists and there’s been no untoward incident so far,” he said. Over the last couple of days this correspondent met only four foreign tourists. –Our Correspondent, Sylhet
