Govt restrictions stifle St Martin's tourism

The government-imposed restrictions have got in the way of the development of tourism on the Saint Martin's Island.

Introduced on the pretext of environmental protection, these measures have significantly limited local visitors' access to the island and disrupted the flow of international tourists as well.

As a result, businesses operating on the island, particularly those dependent on tourism, such as hotels, restaurants, and tour operators, are facing mounting financial pressure.

In the past, tourists were officially barred from visiting the island for six months of the year - from May to October.

However, in October last year, the interim government decided to allow tourists for just three months as part of efforts to protect the island's biodiversity.

As per the decision, tourists will be allowed on the island, located in the Bay of Bengal, in November, but they cannot stay overnight.

Such stays will be allowed in December and January, but the number of tourists cannot exceed 2,000 per day.

The island will remain closed to tourists in February for cleaning and conservation initiatives.

Keeping the same rules in place, the government reopened the island to tourists on November 1 this year, following a nine-month closure.

However, travel plans remain uncertain as ship operators have yet to resume services, citing a lack of passengers.

"Because of the decline in the number of passengers following government restrictions, even fuel costs cannot be covered. We cannot operate vessels under such heavy losses," Hossain Islam Bahadur, general secretary of the Sea Cruise Operators Owners Association of Bangladesh, tells The Financial Express.

He says they would not resume cruise operations if the government does not revise its decision.

"The government must either allow overnight stays on the island even in November or permit vessels to operate from the Teknaf or Inani beach areas," he adds.

So far, the government has allowed only two ships - MV Karnafuly and MV Baro Awlia - to sail to the island.

In addition, several other vessels have applied for permission to operate on the route.

Previously, ships used to travel to the island by crossing the Naf River and the Bay of Bengal, starting their journeys from various jetties in the Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar.

However, ship operations through the Naf River were suspended in 2024 due to security concerns fuelled by an armed conflict in Myanmar's Rakhine State near the Bangladesh border.

Later, the authorities permitted ships to operate from the Inani beach jetty.

However, that jetty also remains closed to ship operations this year after it was declared an ecologically critical area on October 27.

Consequently, owners are now bound to operate their ships from the Nuniar Chara jetty of Cox's Bazar.

Although the government has restricted the operation of passenger ships from the Inani jetty on the pretext of environmental protection, it continues to allow ships and tourists to the island, which has also been declared an ecologically critical area.

Bahadur describes this as a clear example of the government's double standards.

Travelling to the island from Nuniar Chara takes at least six to seven hours, with a similar duration required for the return journey.

Without the option for overnight stays, travellers in November will only have about one to one-and-a-half hours to explore the island.

Suhrawardy Hossain Sarwar, manager-in-charge (Dhaka office) of Keari Tours and Services, says due to the restrictions on overnight stays, very few tourists are willing to go on the long journey from Nuniar Chara.

"Nobody will endure 14 hours at sea to spend just an hour on the island," he says, adding that some travellers are also avoiding trips to the island as travel costs have increased due to ships departing from Nuniar Chara.

Mahbub Ullah, owner of Mermaid Resort on the island, says many resort owners are scaling down their business and will make limited preparations to welcome tourists in December and January.

"Two months of business is not enough to cover a resort's renovation and other costs," he adds.

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