Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday said with its various virgin and unexplored beautiful areas, unmatched diversity of mountains, landscapes, deserts, beaches and religious sites coupled with a new visa regime, Pakistan is an attractive tourism destination and now open for all without any restrictions.
“It was very difficult for foreign tourists to visit some areas including the Northern Areas due to restrictions in the past and the tourists had to get a no-objection certificate … we have eased and reversed the situation,” he said while addressing the Pakistan Tourism Summit here at the Prime Minister Office. He said as it is the private sector which has a pivotal role in promoting tourism in the country, the government on its part will ensure the provision of all facilitation to the tourists and entrepreneurs.
Highlighting the natural beauty of Pakistan, including the virgin beaches of Balochistan, the prime minister regretted that the country’s elite would visit Europe and England in summers. He referred to his passion of touring the world and visiting the countries like Switzerland, Austria and Africa and said, “The diversity and beauty with a combination of deserts, beaches and mountains bestowed by Allah Almighty to Pakistan is unmatchable in the world.” He recalled his first visit to Gilgit Baltistan at the age of 15 as a student of the Aitchison College and said he was very much impressed by the beauty of Northern Areas including the Karakoram Range. “With Suleman, Himaliyan and Karakoram ranges, we have diversity in mountains,” he remarked.
The prime minister said social media is playing an important role in the promotion of tourism and recalled his visit to Northern Areas three years back during which he found all the hotels booked by tourists as against the past when the tourists were shying away due to terrorism. “I found the British, European and American Pakistanis who had come there for tourism. Then I realized that we have to explore this potential of tourism,” he added.
The prime minister said the people of Pakistan are very fond of tourism, which he said is also evident from the traffic jams on weekends from Murree Road to Nathiagali. “We have some 100 such Nathiagalis in Pakisstan,” he remarked, and again referred to his aerial visit of a beautiful area in Upper Dir some years back, the video clip of which was uploaded by the PTI team on social media, and that clip attracted thousands of domestic tourists to that otherwise isolated place. The prime minister said the huge potential of tourism in Pakistan is also attractive for investment with high rate of returns.
He said besides profits in hotel business, the enhanced tourism in Nathiagali during the last few years especially during the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also caused two to three times raise in the prices of land there. Besides calling for measures to promote tourism, he also urged the relevant authorities including the Apex Committee of Task Force on Tourism to ensure that the natural beauty, local culture and traditions of the tourist areas and sites are not affected.
He also highlighted the importance and potential of religious tourism in Pakistan, which besides having lost of shrines of sufis and saints also had sacred and historic sites of Budhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. The prime minister said since Malaysia and Turkey are earning US$ 22 billion and US$ 40 billion respectively per annum through tourism, Pakistan by exploring its true potential of tourism can address its issues of less foreign exchange inflows, poverty, unemployment.
He said according to the Statistics Division, the ratio of unemployment and poverty in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa dropped during the last five years of PTI rule, which he added was due to the promotion of tourism. He said the government has allowed the construction of high-rise buildings in the federal capital to protect the country’s environment and green areas, which if not protected will create food security issues as well.
Separately, Global Radiance Group of Companies Chairman Abdul Lateef Siddiqui called on Prime Minister Imran Khan at the Prime Minister Office and contributed $100,000 to the Supreme Court of Pakistan and Prime Minister of Pakistan Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams Fund.
Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP) Shah Farman and Chief Minister Mahmood Khan also called on Prime Minister Imran Khan here. During the meeting views were exchanged on the matters regarding development of the tribal areas merged with KP. agencies