Home ›› 17 Jul 2021 ›› Front
Muhammad Ayub Ali
Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit Bangladesh, clothing trader Fakrul Islam used to travel to Dhaka at least twice a month for his business purpose and stay at residential hotel Hasan International most of the time.
Fakrul was often accompanied by his employees who would visit Dhaka’s wholesale markets to buy cloth for three shops they run in Daganbhuiyan upazila headquarters in Feni.
The pandemic reduced the frequency of his travel to Dhaka and Fakrul said most of the time now he prefers buying cloth for his shops from online now.
“I come to Dhaka very rarely now. Even if I need to come for an unavoidable reason, I stay with my relatives instead of going to any hotel. I feel staying at hotel is risky in this period,” Fakrul said.
In the past during his every stay, Fakrul said his average spending on hotel accommodation was around Tk 5,000. Considering his two visits per month, Fakhrul said he paid hoteliers Tk 120,000 in 2019.
However, from March 2020 to March 2021, Fakrul said he barely stayed one night in the hotel as his business activities were dull and whatever small number of products he had to buy from Dhaka, he bought it from online.
Fakrul is one of countless guests that budget hotels and guest houses in Dhaka, mostly located in Motijheel, Fakirerpool, Kamalapur, Motijheel and Gulistan areas, offering cheap boarding to moving people, lost.
There is no credible data on how many people come to Dhaka every day for business, treatment, education and job purposes, but a teacher of the Population Science Department at Dhaka University said the number is close to half-a-million.
Many of these moving people find their lodging in cheap hotels and guest houses in Dhaka’s Motijheel Zone. According to Bangladesh Hotel & Guest House Owners Association, there are around 250 budget hotels and guest houses in Dhaka that offer cheap lodging to moving people.
Many of these hotels were established on rented buildings, some inside a shopping complex and most others also shared their facilities with separate business entities.
Owners and employees of these hotels said Covid-19 pandemic flattened their business, forcing some to close their doors permanently and some to change their business.
The strategies to curb the coronavirus like lockdown, social distance, stay at home, travel and mobility restrictions have resulted in temporary closure of many residential budget hotels.
From Fakrul, Hasan International, set up in 1995 some 30 yards north of Dainik Bangla intersection and 20 yards south of Fakirerpool Water Tank on DIT Extension Road, lost an annual revenue of Tk 1 lakh.
Preferring not to be named, an employee of the hotel told The Business Post, they lost many regular boarders like Fakrul in the past one year due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The highest room rent for Hasan International is Tk 2,000, which can accommodate six people together. And the lowest room rent is Tk 350, according to its website.
The hotel employees said pandemic also affected the businesses of a mini-Chinese restaurant located on the 2nd floor of the hotel, which was only open to its guests.
The situation is no different for Mohammad Ali Babu, the owner of Prince Garden Hotel at Toyenbee Circular Road in Motijheel, who lamented that the pandemic has “eaten up” everything he had.
“We are finished. We are now running on a minus. I cannot finish explaining how many problems I am facing now to run my hotel business,” Babu told The Business Post.
“We have 28 rooms in one floor. Before the pandemic most of the rooms would remain occupied, at least 80 per cent. Now, most are empty,” he said.
Babu said their hotel had four air-conditioned rooms, but due to lack of boarders they turned them into non-air-conditioned rooms.
“We offer very cheap boarding. The rent for our non-AC double room is just Tk 700 and single room is around Tk 200-300. Despite that, we don’t get any boarder now,” he said. Hotel owners and employees said there is no organised platform to speak on behalf of budget hotels to the authorities.
Saif Ahmed, president of Bangladesh Hotel & Guest House Owners Association, said only handful of these hotels, who rely on domestic guests, are among some 700 of its members.
“Everyone is struggling, including star-rated hotels. All we can do is keep our patience. Unless the vaccination drive in our country is completed, the domestic occupancy of normal hotels will not improve. At least if 50 per cent or 30 per cent vaccination drive is completed, they will get some boarders,” he said.
“Most of these hotels are run on rented buildings. From our association we played role in some cases and spoke to building owners so that the hotel owners can get a waiver on the rent,” he said.
“Our prediction is that situation will not return to normal even this year. We suffered a blow in 2016 after attack on Hole Artisan bakery. We recovered somewhat after that blow, but this is unrecoverable we think. We have nothing to do but accept the reality,” he added.
The association, in a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on June 7, said the tourism and hotel industry suffered a loss of Tk 2,500 crore and sought some benefits from Tk 30,000 crore stimulus packages that the government announced after the pandemic began.
These includes loan repayment tenure for five years instead of three years and a two-year grace period two years. The association also demanded a waiver of bank interest from March 2020 to December 2021 for all kind of hotels and guest houses.
