TOURISM IN PAKISTAN

By: Qandeel Rauf, 10u0384, Section: F

Tourism industry in Pakistan has much to offer to the interested and inquisitive people. The attractions range from high peaks in our northern areas to low-lying valleys and long glaciers and from old civilizations like Indus valley civilization to the Mughal architecture of the previous millennium. The constraint to tourism- the thing that drives away the tourists is the fluctuating political and social conditions that take place in our country. Recently the occurrence of so many unacceptable incidents makes this fact abundantly clear that the number of tourists, in the comings years, would certainly going to decrease if the proper steps are not taken to improve this situation.
The political instability that has been prevalent in our country for most of the time during the past sixty years has caused such haphazard situations. No one is sure of his safety in the very next moment, in Pakistan. These happenings lead to low level of security which results in declining number of tourists. Rapidly growing suicide bombers have made the tourists circumspect and cautious about coming to Pakistan. When the government changes, which it frequently does (other than the time of Ayub, Bhutto, Zia and Musharaf) there is always an insecurity looming above. At times martial law is declared and emergency is imposed at others.
A stable political environment is required that can ensure regular tourists for the tourism industry to thrive. Furthermore we need to give tourists the best value for their money so that more and more tourists are attracted towards our country. People outside Pakistan think that Pakistani people are intolerant and extremist. However this is not the case therefore we need to work on rectifying the image. Furthermore we need promotion through different marketing strategies. For example, we can advertise on international T.V channels in order to make people aware of the fact that Pakistan is a beautiful country. Moreover we need a better infrastructure. For tourism we need high investment therefore private sector is not contributing towards improving this sector. Government should attract private investors by offering them tax relief and providing low interest finance to them. If such things are taken into account then we can also reduce the balance of payments deficit as tourism is an invisible export.