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What went wrongA hotel owner on Saint Martin's Island, in a Prothom Alo report

A month without a single guest and seven staff let go, once the ships stopped

Tourist ships on the Teknaf-Saint Martin's route stopped from 16 November, in the middle of the season. This hotel had no guest in a month and laid off seven staff; all 36 residential hotels and 40 cottages and bungalows on the island closed.

Political unrest and blockades stopped the tourist ships on the Teknaf to Saint Martin's route from 16 November, cutting the island off in the middle of its season. The owner of this hotel said, in his words, "not one guest has come to this hotel in the past month" — and he had laid off seven staff. A nearby hotel had been shut twenty days for want of guests. All 36 residential hotels and 40 cottages and bungalows on the island closed, along with more than 60 restaurants. More than 600 workers were laid off across 120 tourism businesses, more than 300 van drivers lost their work and roughly 5,000 people who depend on tourism were left with nothing, while the route's five passenger ships sat idle for about a month. An island hotel earns its year in a handful of months, so losing these weeks costs the year, not the month.

Lessons

  1. 1.An island hotel earns its whole year in a short season, so losing those weeks costs the year, not the month
  2. 2.The risk sits outside the business: with the ships stopped, a hotel that is open and staffed still receives nobody

Published with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.

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