A Tk 18 lakh houseboat loses two months of trips to a flash flood

Renting out 'houseboats' with cabins, fans and tiled bathrooms to tourists on Tanguar Haor in Sunamganj is now a new business. According to a Prothom Alo report, more than fifty new houseboats went onto the haor in the 2022 season; 10 young investors said each one costs Tk 18 to 25 lakh to build. For a two-day, one-night trip, Tk 4,000 to 8,000 is charged per person, and bookings are taken on Facebook pages. A young man who has run tours since 2016 built a houseboat named 'Jagatjyoti' with a partner, at a cost of around Tk 18 lakh. His calculation was that the original cost would be recovered in three seasons. But that year a sudden flood cost them two months. Even so, he says there are still enough tourists. Four to five people, including the helmsman and cook, work on each houseboat, and each gets Tk 2,000 to 3,000 per trip. The travel season is only five to six months, and the upazila administration has set 12 conditions, including registration of the vessel. In other words, a large investment is recovered from only a few months of rentals, and a single blow from the weather or the rules sets that calculation back.