In the run-up to the May 11th general election, the incumbent ruling party in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province – Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) - promised in its manifesto (page 27) that if the people voted PTI into power, it would promote domestic tourism and will develop a national policy to boost tourism.
The promise was also repeated by PTI Sports and Culture Minister Mahmood Khan, who said that his government was giving top priority to the promotion of tourism in the province.
Mahmood Khan, Provincial Minister for Tourism and Sports declined to comment when Truth Tracker asked him about the promise. He referred Truth Tracker to Mushtaq Ahmad, managing director for the Tourism Corporation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who said the PTI government was planning to develop a comprehensive policy for the promotion of domestic and international tourism in the province.
He told Truth Tracker that the PTI promise regarding the tourism policy was on track and, in one month, it would be publicized and implemented.
“Meetings with stakeholders, a study of previous government’s tourism policy, and other necessary documentation have been finalized and soon the plan will be approved by the chief ministers of KPK,” said Mushtaq Ahmad.
“The tourism policy means that we play a role of a catalyst and persuade the private sector to invest in this industry because some of our departments have been running in losses, but when we gave these to the private sector, their inflows improved and jobs were created,” Mushtaq Ahmad told Truth Tracker.
He said that infrastructure and a peaceful environment were key to tourism development. He said the PTI government was focusing on construction and rebuilding roads, providing electricity to different tourism spots and restoring peace in the restive Malakand division, a leading tourism spot in KPK province.
In the light of proposed policy, Mushtaq Ahmad told Truth Tracker, the KPK government had invited nine Buddhist monks from Korea who showed an interest in the revival and preservation of Buddhist heritage in the Malakand valley.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a rich cultural and tourism base. The province has spots valued by tourists for their scenic beauty such as the Malakand and Hazara division. Due to its geographical location, the province has been home to different civilizations over time.
Glimpses of such heritage are evident in the Buddhist Gandhara archaeological sites at Gor Khattree Peshawar, Takht-Bahi, Shabaz Gari (Mardan), Nimo Gram Buddhist Stupa ( Swat), and a collection of Gandhara art preserved at different museums of the province.
Syed Aqil Shah, former minister for tourism and sports for the province, told Truth Tracker that after hydro-power, oil, and gas and minerals, tourism was contributing the most to the national economy. He said that KPK was home to top tourism spots and resources. He said that the Awami National Party government [that was in power in the province from 2008-2013] had established several picnic resorts like Khan Pur water sports resort, Goleen in Chitral ski-resort in Malam Jabba Swat, and Thandyani in Abbotabad.
“The PTI government has done nothing in the last ten months,” Aqil Shah told Truth Tracker. “They made some announcements for the promotion of this sector, but nothing new has come up. They only rely on our previous feasibility and survey reports of different schemes.”
“If one sees change in other sectors, one can also hope for change in the tourism sector, but there has been no improvement in any field for the last six months,” Shah said.
Zahid Khan, President Hotel Association of Swat, told Truth Tracker the PTI government had not taken the association into confidence and did not consult it about the new tourism policy.
“There has been no practical work on ground. The Kalam to Swat road is still in a dilapidated condition, hoteliers have not been compensated after the militancy in Malakand, and there have been no development schemes in the area for boosting tourism,” Khan said.
He said that during the three-year Swat conflict, which was followed by a devastating flood, about 900 hotels and restaurants were damaged and over 40,000 people were rendered jobless in Swat. He said that the local hotel industry suffered a loss of Rs 7.5 billion.
Khan said that the Hotel Association of Malakand and Swat were not aware of the new tourism policy of the PTI government.
According to the views of stakeholders, available data and realities on ground, if the PTI government has not developed a comprehensive policy in the last ten months, it hasn’t moved any closer to the promise it made. In the absence of any clear and visible plans, the PTI promise to develop the tourism sector and have a national tourism policy rings hollow.
I did my master in journalism and Mass Communication from university of Peshawar in 2006. I have a vast experience in humanitarian reporting. I have have worked in different national and international news organizations as producer and reporter.Presently I am working with Center for Research and Security Studies as reporter from southern areas of KP.
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