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Tour operators, airlines eye Eid vacationers
With holidaymakers preparing for Eid vacation, tour operators and airlines are rolling out promotional packages. Tour operators say they take Eid packages as an opportunity to promote local tourist destinations and develop the domestic hospitality industry.
People increasingly tend to take Eid vacation as an opportunity for holidaying. As Eid and winter coincide this year, people take the coming vacation as the best chance of holidaying. The tour operators are getting huge bookings and they hope tourists will buzz around Cox's Bazar, the Sundarbans, Saint Martin's and other local destinations this year.
The country's leading tour operator The Guide Tours Ltd offers special package -- a tour to the Sundarbans and a whale-sighting visit to the Bay of Bengal during the Eid vacation. Guide Tours will hire an ocean-going vessel for the November 19-22 whale-sighting tour, the first of its kind in the country. The tourists on board will move 125-km south into the Bay of Bengal to see whales.
Mominul Islam, director of The Guide Tours Ltd, said the place is 1133 metres deep and like a canyon in the seabed where whale can be sighted. The tour will cost Tk 12,000 a person. "Local tourism industry is growing and we want to explore new destinations," he said. Guide Tours has also arranged three tour programmes to the Sundarbans. Tours are scheduled for November 12-15, November 14-17 and November 16-19. A tour will cost Tk 4,500 a person.
Bengal Tours offers tour to the Sundarbans from November 13-16. Tourists will be taken to Khulna and returned to Dhaka by air. A tourist has to pay Tk 14,000. Saint Martin's Tourism Ltd offers tours to Cox's Bazar, Saint Martin's island and the Sundarbans during Eid at an average cost of Tk 5,000 a person.
The firm also offers tours to Bhutan, and parts of India such as Meghalaya, Sikkim, Sillong, Darjeeling, Tripura, Ajmeer Sharif, Kolkata, Himachal Pradesh and Bombay. The visit by roads will cost between Tk 6,000 and Tk 17,000 a person.
Bangladesh Parjatan Corpor-ation (BPC) is receiving good bookings against its Eid offers. About 40 percent of total offers has already been booked. Starting from November 17, Dhaka-Cox's Bazar-Saint Martin's package will cost Tk 7,000, Dhaka-Sundarbans-Dhaka package Tk 5,000 and Dhaka-Cox's Bazar Tk 4,000 a person.
GMG Holidays, a sister concern of GMG Airlines, has introduced a special family package for travellers intending to visit Kolkata for Eid shopping. Starting from $538 for a family of three, the package offers return air ticket on Chittagong-Kolkata-Chittagong route by GMG Airlines along with two nights stay at a five-star hotel in Kolkata. The offer is valid until November 30.
Thai private carrier Phuket Air has launched especial promotional campaign for Bangladeshi tourists willing to visit Thailand during October 1 to November 30. The airline, that operates flights on Chittagong-Bangkok route, has reduced fare from $185 to $149 for the package.
M Haideruzzaman, managing director of Nora Travels, the GSA of Phuket Air, said during Eid many people visit Thailand for shopping and travelling purposes. Phuket Air offers connecting flights from Bangkok to other Thai tourist destinations, making a convenient tour for Bangladeshi travellers across Thailand, he said.
Malaysia Airlines offers a number of package tours at special discount rates. The airline offers tour from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur at $300, to Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur at $455, to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur at $471, to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur at $530, to Bali and Kuala Lumpur at $492, to Hongkong and Kuala Lumpur at $640 and to Singapore, Bali and Kuala Lumpur at $655.
Emirates offers 'Magical Dubai' and 'Discover Malaysia' at special rates. The Dubai tour with three-night accommodation will cost $615 and three-night Malaysia tour $328 per person. Sources said other tour operators and airlines may also offer special packages as Eid nears.
"In Bangladesh, both inward and outward tourism is growing and promotional packages by tour operators and airlines play a major role for the growth of tourism," said Kazi Wahid ul Alam, local PR consultant of Emirates and Qatar Airways and editor of travel magazine The Bangladesh Monitor.
24/10/04
