Gazipur's largest resort Dream Square welcoming winter with new facilities

Dhaka : The largest resort in Gazipur encompassing 100-acre lands-Dream Square-is gearing up for the coming winter season with a number of attractive new facilities. The resort will be inaugurating an exciting waterpark and a kids' gaming zone by December 2024.  

Md Rafiqul Islam, Assistant Director of Sales and Marketing, Dream Square Resort, said this while talking to The Bangladesh Monitor at his office in the capital recently.

By 2024 end, the resort will also be launching fun new activities at the scenic lake and the stunning swimming pool it boasts, while boating, kayaking and fishing facilities are available already.

Besides indoor games, guests can also enjoy plenty of outdoor sports at Dream Square Resort, as it features four huge fields, two of which are for cricket and football.

The resort is the largest in Gazipur in terms of room number and banquet hall size too, claimed Md Rafiqul Islam.

According to him, the resort currently offers 136 rooms, with another 120 rooms on the way-as Dream Square will be opening a new multi-storied building at the resort premise in the next 18-20 months.

Speaking of event venues, the resort offers Gazipur's biggest pillar-less fully furnished banquet hall of 12,000 sqft. It can comfortably accommodate 500-1200 persons at a time, said Rafiqul.

Furthermore, Dream Square offers guests plenty of dining options, with three state-of-the-art outlets including a café at the premise.

However, the resort is suffering from the same cruel fate like the other properties of Bangladesh at present.

Since the mass uprising and student protests nationwide beginning mid-July, Dream Square too had been witnessing poor occupancy levels.

From July 12 till August, 2024, the resort only operated with 8-10 per cent occupancy. The recent flash flood further added to the woes, informed Rafiqul, adding, even the MICE business is down. 

Usually, during this season, the resort used to enjoy 75 per cent occupancy on average. The occupancy even used to rise up to 100 per cent on weekends, further mentioned Rafiqul.

To stay afloat during this crisis period, Dream Square Resort is offering attractive packages for guests.

There are massive room discounts available currently, up to 70 per cent. The resort is also offering special rates to FIT and corporate groups.  

Of the resort's guest mix, MICE guests usually occupy 40 per cent and domestic guests 80 per cent, noted Rafiqul.

He also shared, the resort welcomes some foreign long-staying guests as well, mainly, since there are some multinational factories in Gazipur.   

During this transition period of the country, Rafiqul stressed, people are reluctant to go on leisure trips or hold events.

However, from October, Rafiqul expects gradual recovery in business. The resort eyes around 50 per cent occupancy from September end or early October, he said.

Also, there are some tentative event bookings that were earlier postponed but not cancelled. These might start taking place once the country's situation develops, expressed Rafiqul.