oleh admin | Apr 2, 2025 | beaches, events and festivals, tourist attractions, tourists, Travel
Cox’s Bazar, April 2 – In Cox’s Bazar, home to the planet’s longest uninterrupted natural seaside stretch, there has been a significant influx of tourists due to the elongated Eid-ul-Fitr break attracting myriad visitors.
The beaches at Laboni Point, Sugandha Point, and Kolatoli Point buzz with tourists, fostering a lively festival atmosphere.
Visitors are enjoying an array of beach pursuits—some zip around on jet skis, capturing thrills amidst the waves; some lounge about on inflated rafts basking in the sun. Meanwhile, groups of family and friends find respite from the warmth beneath vibrant parasols, relishing the soothing sea air.
Hotels Nearly Full Booked
The president of the Cox’s Bazar Hotel, Motel, and Guesthouse Owners’ Association, Abul Kashem Sikder, mentioned that approximately 90% of rooms across over 500 establishments including hotels, motels, and resorts had been reserved beforehand.
Sylhet prepares for an influx of 1.5 million visitors during Eid as business opportunities surge.
“Our facilities have the capacity to accommodate up to 187,000 visitors daily, and we’re experiencing an unusually high demand during this Eid season,” Sikder stated.
Robin, who hails from Dhaka, mentioned that during the Eid holidays, Cox’s Bazar is considered the premier spot for travelers seeking an ideal mix of enjoyment and rest along the coast.
Improved Security Protocols for Visitors
To guarantee a secure time at the seaside, the Sea Safe Lifeguard organization has stationed 27 certified lifeguards along Sugandha, Kolatoli, and Laboni Points—the most popular areas of the shore.
Imtiaz Ahmed, who serves as the Field Team Manager for Sea Safe Lifeguard, stated, “Our crews are on heightened alert, and we’re conducting educational initiatives to avoid incidents while swimming at sea.”
Sajek and Khagrachari are now accessible to tourists following a month-long restriction.
Additional DIG Apel Mahmud from the Cox’s Bazar Tourist Police mentioned that assistance stations have been established at crucial locations, and surveillance has been increased in collaboration with the district police to guarantee safety.
“The aim is to guarantee that each traveler has a secure and stress-free holiday experience, leaving with cherished recollections,” he mentioned additionally.
oleh admin | Apr 2, 2025 | airfares, flights, flying, software and applications, Travel
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EXPLORE FURTHER: As a physician, here are the drugs you should definitely steer clear of before boarding a plane
Skyscanner has always been recognized as the destination for finding the most affordable flights, and now they’re providing a new opportunity to secure an even better deal.
The application has introduced a new feature named DROPS, designed to locate return flights that have decreased in price by at least 20 percent over the past seven days.
Available exclusively through the revamped app, this feature can help vacationers save both time and up to several hundred pounds when making flight reservations.
To secure these discounted fares, all users need to do is visit the DROPS tool and enter their departure location.
The application goes through an extensive database of travel costs to identify the most significant decreases in flight prices, which must be at least a 20 percent reduction for destinations around the globe.
For instance, when MailOnline Travel examined the situation,
Skyscanner app
, and utilized the DROPS tool to search for flights in May 2025. We discovered routes from New York to
Gatwick
For £404, which is £315 less than £719.
We likewise discovered a returning flight to Ibiza from
London
The price at City Airport decreased by almost £200, dropping from £830 to £639.
There were significant discounts on other flights to various European cities departing from London’s airports as well.
We discovered savings of up to £68 for Krakow, with flights available at an incredible price of £48.
Fare for flights to Pisa was decreased by £87.
People traveling from Birmingham and Liverpool airports might also benefit from significant discounts.
Fares for flights departing from Birmingham to Verona this month have decreased by £153, whereas tickets heading to Alicante in April showed a reduction of £45.
Regarding the new tool, Laura Lindsay, Skyscanner’s Travel Expert, stated: “Our aim is to assist budget-savvy travelers in discovering and reserving their upcoming crucial journey effortlessly and with assurance.”
‘Using DROPS, they gain effortless access to fantastic deals right at their fingertips, ensuring they get great bargains.’
The feature from Skyscanner that scans as many as 80 billion prices daily can be found in version 7.135 of their application available on the app store.
Read more
oleh admin | Apr 2, 2025 | community, islands, nature, tourist attractions, tourists
A renowned island on Instagram, once celebrated as the most picturesque in the Mediterranean, has transformed into a nightmarish habitat teeming with rats, resembling a dilapidated favela in some neglected nation.
Around the globe, the small Maltese island of Comino has earned recognition for its stunning turquoise waters and its well-known limestone beach called the Blue Lagoon.
The charming island’s appeal has grown thanks to social media influencers visiting Comino for the ideal photo opportunity and due to its feature in popular Hollywood movies like Troy.
Nevertheless, even though Malta’s tourism board calls it the ‘most beautiful location in the Mediterranean,’ Comino is currently suffering from excessive tourist traffic.
Throughout the summertime, as many as 10,000 visitors arrive daily by boats, only to be squeezed into the crowded bay.
Impromptu bars blaring loud tunes encircle the attendees offering alcohol and finger foods, only to have these items discarded as trash, thus becoming a readily available meal for Comino’s rapidly growing rodent populace.
Activists in Malta are currently battling to safeguard Comine, designated as a protected natural reserve and avian sanctuary, against potential destruction.
A civic organization called Movimento Graffiti is advocating for significant reforms in how the island is governed.
In 2022, they organized a large demonstration during which they took control of and removed sun loungers and umbrellas.
A participant from the group referred to the present circumstances as ‘intolerable’, according to Andre Callus.
‘The residents of Gozo and Malta consider it a nightmare, so they avoid going there now. Commercial enterprises have completely overtaken Comino. Despite being a tiny location, there are 11 kiosks selling food and drinks. Their primary aim seems to be maximizing profits from the island,’ he explained.
The Daily Telegraph
.
Maltese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) claim that a study assessing the number of tourists the island can accommodate was suppressed by the Maltese authorities. However, numerous residents clearly observe the adverse effects of overcrowding due to tourism.
Residents of the tiny island nation took to writing letters to local newspapers criticizing the current condition of Comino.
One remarked that the once-famous Blue Lagoon now resembled “a dilapidated favela in some neglected nation.”
Someone else commented: “This formerly picturesque island has transformed into a circus, and I would not visit it again even if someone offered me money.”
The Maltese government is attempting to carefully navigate the space between safeguarding the natural allure of Comino and fostering Malta’s tourism industry — an industry that constitutes 15 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.
Ian Borg, who serves as the minister for tourism, suggests reducing the daily visitor limit to half, dropping from 10,000 to just 5,000 individuals permitted to explore the island each day.
In order to implement this legislation, the authorities must verify with commercial boat owners the number of passengers they transport and the frequency of their daily trips.
Mr. Borg has additionally committed to reviewing the permitted number of bars operating and installing public restrooms.
Nevertheless, organizations like BirdLife Malta advocate for Comino’s designation as a nature reserve to be upheld, which includes removing waste every day and limiting visitor numbers.
Comino symbolizes the broader challenges posed by tourism for Malta; this small country with a populace of slightly more than 500,000 experienced an astounding 3.6 million tourists visiting last year.
To cater to visitors, extensive shoreline projects have been greenlit, but activists argue these initiatives are causing irreparable harm to Malta’s natural surroundings.
Mark Sultana, CEO of BirdLife Malta, wishes that the condition of the Blue Lagoon serves as an awakening for both politicians and developers.
“The cow has been milked excessively,” he stated.
Read more
oleh admin | Apr 2, 2025 | boats and ships, cruises, disasters, incident, news
Travelers on a cruise ship faced enormous 40-foot waves while navigating the turbulent seas of the infamous region.
Drake
Passage.
Lesley Ann Murphy, a travel blogger who was onboard Quark Expeditions’ Ocean Explorer cruise ship, recorded breathtaking video of the ship navigating through massive waves and surging waters.
Murphy gauged that some of the waves reached heights of 30 to 40 feet, with her footage capturing their immense size as they loomed high above the vessel and crashed against the glazed windows.
In her video, which was uploaded to
Instagram
, multiple passengers were spotted congregating at the big windows as the azure waves surged upward before harshly colliding with the observation deck.
The frothy white waves slammed into the sides, causing the vessel to sway violently from side to side as passengers stumbled and toppled over.
At once, a cluster of travelers appeared to dash back and forth as the vessel rocked with the currents, while a television could be observed swinging from the wall because of the wave impacts.
A single individual confronted the daunting waves and tried to maintain his equilibrium on the deck of the ship akin to surfing as a massive wave loomed ahead of the vessel.
In her video description, Murphy characterized the journey through the seas situated between the southernmost point of the South American continent and Antarctica as a ’48-hour thrill ride.’
“I’m delighted to share that we made it through not just one but two challenging Drake shakes! To explain, the Drake Passage is located between the southernmost point of Argentina and Antarctica. This stretch of ocean is well-known for its incredibly turbulent waters,” she explained.
If luck is on your side, you might encounter the serene Drake Lake. But if you’re like us, prepare for the thrilling Drake Shake complete with massive 35-foot waves.
“Indeed, we were secure and it felt absolutely crazy—and at moments, quite enjoyable?! Totally worth it for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure!” she remarked.
We were instructed to remain in our cabins all afternoon yesterday, but there were certainly positive aspects to be found amidst this situation… We had some free time, we shared many laughs, I reflected on this incredible journey, I video chatted with my friends, and surprisingly enough, I discovered that I don’t feel queasy at sea!
However, Murphy is not the first person to confront the frightening ocean swells.
Footage from last year showed a luxurious cruise ship navigating through a fierce storm near Antarctica, depicting the exact moment
Waves nearly reaching 100 feet crashed into the vessel.
and drenched the deck with icy seawater.
The Atlas World Voyager cruise ship was navigating through the Drake Passage when it encountered a severe storm.
Gale-force winds reaching speeds of 115 mph transformed the ocean surface into chaos, generating massive 30-meter (93-foot) waves that crashed against the luxurious yacht throughout this treacherous voyage.
The thrilling footage captured from the deck illustrates how the yacht was raised up onto towering waves and then tilted, dropping dramatically downwards as if falling several stories.
Tables, chairs, sunbeds, and various other debris could be spotted drifting around as the deck was engulfed by the floodwaters.
Luckily, the team successfully navigated the challenging waters, and the yacht arrived at its destination—Ushuaia in southern Argentina—without significant harm.
Even though the conditions were harsh, the yacht managed to navigate through the Drake Passage without any problems.
What happened to MS Maud, a Norwegian cruise liner, cannot be said of other vessels. The incident occurred just days prior to Christmas 2023 as the ship navigated through the North Sea. A sudden monstrous wave struck the vessel so violently that it caused a loss of power, leaving the ship at drift.
When MS Maud was approximately 162 nautical miles from Denmark’s western coastline and around 217 nautical miles from Britain’s eastern coastline, a colossal wave struck the ship, smashing the windows on the navigation deck.
The vessel, transporting 400 individuals including passengers and crew members, embarked on a 14-day voyage to see the Northern Lights, departing from Tilbury on December 9 and scheduled to arrive back at the Essex port on December 23.
Video footage acquired by MailOnline captures the precise instant when the rogue wave struck, rendering the vessel unable to steer properly and necessitating a towing operation to Germany.
The passenger who captured the video remarked: “I had the bridge view displayed on the TV to help prevent motion sickness and spontaneously chose to record it!”
The moment the wave hit, the television turned off abruptly, and the ship’s emergency alarm blared, signaling that something had gone awry.
Read more
oleh admin | Apr 2, 2025 | disaster management, disasters, news, politics, tourists
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports intends to revamp its approach for the latter part of this year in response to the declining Chinese market and diminished trust after the recent earthquake. The aim is to set up a fresh crisis management group.
The ministry plans to engage in discussions with a strategic advisory group to guide the Tourism Authority of Thailand as they implement this initiative, stated Natthriya Thaweevong, who serves as the permanent secretary of the ministry.
Thailand has encountered several issues this year impacting tourist confidence, such as the earthquakes that struck both Myanmar and Thailand recently, along with worldwide economic difficulties, according to Ms. Natthriya.
She mentioned that the nation can no longer depend on the Chinese market as heavily as it once did. Before the pandemic hit in 2019, Thailand saw an all-time high of 11 million tourists arriving from mainland China. However, the comeback after the pandemic has been sluggish, with visitor counts failing to recover fully so far. The previous year witnessed approximately 6.7 million Chinese travelers visiting the country, and projections for this year anticipate about 7 million arrivals.
The Tourism and Sports Minister, Sorawong Thienthong, announced the establishment of a Tourism Risk and Crisis Management team aimed at supporting the sector. This team will include members representing various organizations within the tourism supply chain, including entities like the Interior Ministry and the Department of Land Transport.
Based on early responses from businesses, he mentioned that the ministry intends to work alongside the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to provide certification for hotels that successfully pass a security inspection post-earthquake.
“We aim to concentrate on conveying one key message: Thailand remains a secure destination for travelers,” he stated.
Mr. Sorawong mentioned that the Chinese market is particularly reactive to information about the earthquake, and the ministry intends to talk with the Chinese ambassador to try and rebuild trust.
He mentioned his intention to bring influential figures from China’s media landscape to showcase that every province across the nation is safe for tourism, along with Bangkok, which faced the biggest impact.
In light of the approaching Songkran festivities, all events are scheduled to proceed without changes. The ministry has requested that the Tourist Police collaborate with local law enforcement agencies to guarantee tourist safety across key regions.
It also motivates visitors to install the Thailand Tourist Police app, enabling them to get direct warnings from the Tourist Police in case of any unforeseen incidents.
Mr. Sorawong expressed his belief that the slow-down in booking activities wouldn’t persist, since officials have been diligently addressing the problem.
The president of the Thai Hotels Association, Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, stated that the government ought to implement the domestic co-payment tourism promotion program at the earliest opportunity.
He projected that the typical hotel occupancy rate for April and the Songkran holiday season would stay at approximately 60%, which is below the previous year’s figure of 65%.
In the meantime, a spokesperson for the Thai Airlines Association mentioned that flight reservations experienced a decline of 40-60% over the two days following the earthquake. Notably, there was an exceptionally steep reduction in bookings from China, which fell by 60%.
Provided by Syndigate Media Inc. (
Syndigate.info
).
