Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prepares strategy for revival of tourism

Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP) has prepared an aggressive tourism policy for attracting tourists and reviving the tourism sector in the terrorism-hit province.

"The department of tourism after hectic efforts and consultations of one and a half years with stakeholders had prepared a detailed strategy for the revival of tourism in the province, said Mohammad Ali Syed, General Manager, Tourists Information Centres (TICs) and Events, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday.

He said that the tourism sector of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is different from other provinces as it offers rich historical background, scenic beauty, diverse culture, archaeological sites, traditional games, high mountains, lakes, traditional hospitality and variety of handicrafts.

For the domestic and foreign tourists it provided opportunities in recreational, adventure, culture, religious and educational tourism.

According to a data collected in 2008-09 tourism sector contributed $134 million (Rs 11.6 billion) to national economy, which speaks of its economic potentials.

Swat with 405 hotels earned a foreign exchange of $51 million followed by 93 hotels with 2, 851 rooms earned $40.4 million.

He said that the aims and objectives of the KP tourism vision is to develop an internationally competitive tourism for domestic and foreign tourists to fully realise its diverse potential and make tourism a leading economic sector for the province through public-private partnership.

He said that the mission of the KP tourism is the repositioning of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as prime destination for both domestic and foreign tourists by following a sustainable tourism development strategy with institutional and regulatory reforms, infrastructure development, service quality assurance, human resource development, aggressive marking, investment promotion and environmental conservation as its key pillars.

The strategy also calls for close co-ordination with security agencies to improve security situation, establish public-private partnership and strengthen tourism department and TCKP in post 18th Amendment period.

The implementation plan of the strategy called for preparation of tourism policy to facilitate local and foreign investment in tourism sector with particular emphasis on the facilitation of public private partnership.

The strategy also recommended the capacity building of TCKP and its conversion into an effective tourism management and regulatory body, improvement in tourism laws and imparting of quality training in tourism and hospitality sectors.

Similarly, the strategy also called for formulation of a short to medium term tourism marketing plan with focus on domestic tourism market.