Pakistan projects its north as a success story. The claim to fame is primarily based on the burgeoning number of tourists every year. What nobody points out aloud is that growth is outpacing governance faster than expected. The 18th Constitutional Amendment had devolved tourism to provinces, each with its own legal framework, including regulation. However, the loopholes which the policy makers are better qualified to identify and implementors and executioners can incisively plug still remain unplugged. That is why a sealed hotel keeps taking in guests, the forests keep vanishing for decades before anyone even notices, and mafias keep encroaching on the reclaimed land. All of this comes as no surprise. The question arises: is the local population, a major stakeholder, heard or not before making and enforcing a policy? One fine morning, the news breaks that the timber mafia has been raided, encroachments have been bulldozed, and the police have apprehended antisocial elements harassing tourists. Why the reaction and not preemption? This is just a precursor to issues which I would be highlighting in succeeding lines.
Foremost is the governance. After the abolition of the federal tourism ministry in 2011, the federal tourism sector is now governed by two primary national entities: Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), which functions as the apex federal agency responsible for strategic vision, national tourism promotion, and infrastructure development. Then there is the Department of Tourist Services (DTS): historically the federal regulatory arm under the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC), the DTS is responsible for implementing the Travel Agencies Act, the Hotels and Restaurants Act, and the Tourist Guides Act. While its localised operations have been devolved to provincial governments (e.g. Punjab and KP), the federal DTS retains control over certain aspects of quality control, licensing, and national hospitality standards. Four differentbodies, govern tourism across GB, KP, and Punjab, respectively.
Where tourism is considered a major economic trove, it also impinges upon the environment, leaving a lasting impact on these areas and populations.
Despite this decentralised control and execution, enforcement remains weak and questionable. For instance, Murree lost 23% of its forest cover between 1999 and 2015 while built-up area tripled, bringing forest land under illegal occupation. Data from municipality-level sources on per-day tons of waste produced in these areas is staggering but needs higher-level checks andendorsement, to be taken as a baseline for futuristic planning. Such missing links keep capital out despite a tourism market worth USD 4.42 billion in 2025, projected to hit USD 8.31 billion by 2031. Pakistan’s Board of Investment admits tourism isn’t clearly mapped as a sector, courtesy tourism not being a federal subject anymore. Disputed land and bureaucratic channels remain an entry barrier to bigger investors, creating a void of value-added tourism services.
The geography-constrained terrain in the north is devoid of laterals, and communication between areas remains mostly dependent on singular penetrants like KKH and its offshoots. Climatic or geological disruption threatens tourism and the daily life of locals, limiting volume and response speed. In such an eventuality, restoring communication arteries remains a major challenge. Disaster response infrastructure is meagre, which hardly suffices for the local population. In time, warning mechanisms remain questionable. Expansion of evacuation and medical facilities seems to be lagging in step. Civilian air evacuation resources are either nonexistent or insufficient.
Another trend which has recently exploded in Pakistani tourism is staycation, which in fact overwhelms the traditional concept of vacation. Local tourists throng to hotspots with a view to spend the complete season, away from the simmering weather in the plains. This shift has resulted in the mushrooming growth of the construction of serviced room apartment complexes, denuding hills of forests.
Tourism breeds populations of these hotspots. Where tourism is considered a major economic trove, it also impinges upon the environment, leaving a lasting impact on these areas and populations. Snap surveys conducted in the Hunza – Diamer area in recent years found locals overwhelmingly attributing their sustainability to tourism in the area and, in the same breath, directly linking it to deforestation and water pollution. Behavioural reporting sketches what Murree and Galiyat face: littered forests, dumped sewage, construction protected by political cover, and viral complaints about tourists trashing the trails in the area.
There is yet another cluster of issues, like a lack of proportionate hospitality training institutes in these areas. Unreliable internet across the north affects bookings and urgent emergency communication for tourists. Tourism-related jobs narrow down into a short season, implying no year-round incomes for the locals. Funding for maintaining cultural heritage sites in the area is largely drawn from donors and NGOs, which may not suffice to preserve these sites effectively.
We need to fix jurisdiction first by bringing all provincial and special areas tourism authorities under one framework. Tourist carrying capacity limits need to be tied to available infrastructure and not demand alone. As the infrastructure flourishes, this capacity can be enhanced proportionately. It is time to treat investment ambiguity and land title as a combo problem to resolve before setting up any public-private venture. Building disaster, medical response and early warning capacities to match peak season requirements needs to be the top priority. Measures are required to be taken to sensitise local populations in other tourist-frequented areas through institutional presence, as done and practised in GB. Investment is required in training and connectivity of baseline infrastructure, and funding heritage preservation. Proliferation of construction on reclaimed land from forests and encroaching environment sanctuaries declared national parks needs to be checked with an iron fist. Provision of security to tourists should remain sacrosanct.
Eco tourism deserves an honest accounting, since it’s the solution most often proposed. It resolves carrying capacity and awareness directly. We must build waste and treatment capacity to match peak-season volume, not average daily load. Route a share of tourism revenue directly into conservation of the same site through forest patrols, water treatment, and waste removal, instead of syphoning it to operators, while the environment absorbs the cost and keeps depreciating. Therefore, inclusive management of growth is the real challenge for tourism.
The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at [email protected]