Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury, Cox's Bazar

Cox's Bazar, the famous tourist capital, is now packed with tourists. There is no place like a sesame seed. People have been seen sleeping on hotels, motels and roads, even on the sandbanks with their bags on their heads.

Basically, the crowd of tourists has started increasing at the Cox's Bazar sea beach towards the end of the year. After a long time, the businessmen of this sector are returning to their tourist city form in a cheerful mood.

At the end of the year, corporate organizations choose Cox's Bazar to organize their annual conferences. With the end of the annual exams of students, guardians are coming to Cox's Bazar with their family members to visit.

As a result, the crowd of tourists is increasing in the beach area. Due to the influx of huge tourists at the same time, there are no vacant rooms in about five hundred residential establishments including hotels and motels.

And the traffic police are struggling to manage traffic on the roads of Cox's Bazar city. Those concerned believe that this situation may continue until the first week of January.

Cox's Bazar Hotel-Guest House Owners Association President Abul Kashem Sikder said that there are more than five hundred hotels of various categories, including star-rated hotels, in the hotel-motel zone. These accommodations accommodate one lakh 30 thousand tourists daily.

An average of one and a half lakh tourists have been staying in Cox's Bazar since Thursday. Such a presence of tourists is expected until December 28. Tourist and traffic police are struggling to ensure the safety of a large number of tourists, control road traffic congestion and maintain order.

On Friday (December 20) morning, tourists were seen flocking to the seashore at Sugandha Point, Inani and other points throughout the day, ignoring the cold. Many were soaking their bodies in the salty water of the sea, some were collecting coins with the waves on jet skis. Some were riding bikes on the beach.

Members of the tourist police are keeping a vigilant eye on the safety of the tourists present. And lifeguards are working diligently to ensure that people do not get into trouble while bathing.

Main Uddin Chowdhury, who came from Dhaka Shyamoli, said, I came to Cox's Bazar two days ago. Since that morning, the beach has been crowded with tourists. Those who have not booked hotels in advance are in danger with their families. Many are not getting room rent despite paying more than the norm.

Salim Newaz, who came from Comilla, said, due to the large number of tourists during the holidays, there was no significant discount on hotel room rent. Restaurants and other places are crowded and extra money is being collected.

Abdul Hannan, the front desk manager of Hotel Ocean Paradise, said, since the beginning of this week, the demand for rooms in the city's hotels, motels, resorts and cottages has increased. The tourist city was almost empty for the last eight months. Now the crowd is increasing, we are giving discounts on room rent as much as we can.

However, many tourists have booked with us in advance. So if someone suddenly comes and wants a room, there is nothing to do but express regret.

Abu Taleb, assistant general manager of the star hotel Cox's Bazar, said that the hotel rooms are not being emptied. This situation may continue for another week or ten days.

The same situation is happening in Laboni Point, Sugandha Point, Kalatali, and in hotels and cottages built on the edge of Marine Drive, no discount on room rent is being given or walking tourists are not getting rooms, said Mukim Khan, general secretary of the Marine Drive Hotel-Resort Owners Association.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Tourist Police, Additional Superintendent of Police Abul Kalam, said that 85 members of the Tourist Police are struggling to ensure the safety of millions of tourists. Due to everyone's caution, no harassment or accident has been reported so far.

Cox's Bazar Police spokesperson and Additional Superintendent of Police of Traffic Police, Jasim Uddin Chowdhury, said that traffic jams have been caused due to thousands of vehicles carrying tourists. More than fifty police members are working to control the situation at the city's Kalatali Dolphin Intersection, bypass road, and Bazarghata on the main road.

In this regard, Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner Salahuddin said that strict action will be taken if complaints are received from tourists about charging extra room rent or food prices. Several mobile courts led by first-class magistrates are on the ground to monitor these issues.