Pakistan is among the world’s most attractive to tourists due to its linguistic, ethnic, and cultural diversity, and natural landmarks. The hospitality of the Pakistani people also made Pakistan one of the best places for foreign tourists to spend their vacations. Due to these attractions, Pakistan has been categorized as the world’s best adventure travel destination by independent travelers and adventurers. There is no doubt that foreign tourists are drawn to Pakistan because of its picturesque natural landscape. Pakistan’s northern areas including KP and the Northern Areas of Gilgit-Baltistan have no parallel in their natural beauty. But Pakistan is yet far from converting this potential of tourism into strategic strength and there are many internal and external factors behind this.
Not many people from around the world are willing to visit Pakistan due to terrorism and lack of facilities. Pakistan has overcome the problem of terrorism in KP and Newly Merged Districts (NMDs) but the lack of tourism facilities in these areas is still haunting the true potential of tourism in these areas. Prolonged conflict with terrorists has also prevented the development of new tourism spots with international standard facilities. Tragic incidents like Murree last year have also exposed the lack of adequate tourism governance in the country.
Pakistan’s KP province is littered with beautiful natural attractions, but these are not known to the world due to a lack of facilities and exposure in global media. The current KP government is doing its efforts to uplift tourism in Pakistan by developing new spots. In this regard, the KP government in March 2022, has signed MoU to invest in a new initiative called ‘Integrated Tourism Zones’ (ITZs). These MoUs are part of the KP government’s long-term plan to build and introduced 20 new tourism spots in the province. According to an official press release, under the newly signed agreement, new 5-star hotels in Ganol and Mankial facilitate tourists at these tourist places.
Among other challenges, natural calamities like COVID-19 also deterred efforts to uplift the tourism industry in the country. This pandemic has not only brought forward concerns for the tourists but also for the local businesses that depend on tourism. All these concerns are related to any future catastrophe of this nature. These businesses are already struggling to recover from the previous spell of COVID. Future concerns are related to the fear of indefinite closures and continued lockdowns in the industry.
Globally, such calamities are responded to through the use of advanced technology, customers’ and employees’ willingness, enhanced skills, adherence to standard operating procedures and protective measures, and restructuring via a public-private partnership. But in Pakistan, many of these cannot be implemented or operationalized due to the socio-economic realities, poor education standards, and lack of sound financial backing.
In Pakistan, large-scale hospitality businesses have evolved through the COVID-19 situation and are likely to revamp and revitalize sustainability. According to studies conducted by independent researchers, it has been concluded that Once achieving sustainability, the revamped industry will likely increase revenue, generate employment, and alleviate poverty through thriving public-private partnerships, community involvement, and community well-being without compromising people’s health. But for local, small-scale businesses the story is very different and presents a bleak picture as there is no comprehensive strategy devised by the federal or provincial government.
Pakistan needs to develop a strategic vision for its tourism industry like other developed economies of the world. In this vision, private businesses must be encored and protected regardless of their scale. Small hotels and restaurants must have access to financial facilities with as much ease as large corporate hospitality hotels enjoy. Without the inclusion of small and medium hospitality businesses, no tourism policy can work.
