PESHAWAR
\nThe tourism potential of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in general and merged areas in particular is second to none in the region and through this way billions of dollars could be earned through exploring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Potential.
\nTourism is an important contributor to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa\u2019s economy and job creation, and the number of domestic tourists traveling to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa keeps growing rapidly. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is blessed with diverse tourism attractions, catering to all interest types.
\nSuch tools are the fundamentals of many aspects of the economics of tourism, tourism as an industry, tourism products are perishable, seasonality, interdependence of tourism products, relatively low investment costs but high fixed cost of operation, tourism as a growth sector, high income elasticity.
\nIn order to tap this potential, the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has embarked upon a strategic project to explore and develop tourism in merged areas. This project is striving to establish multiple tourism infrastructure in seven merged districts and six merged sub-divisions.
\nA comprehensive survey has already been conducted to identify major tourism development initiatives in these areas. The main objective is to create a tourism footfall so as to attract local and regional tourists to the merged districts thus creating economic linkages and livelihood promotion opportunities for the locals of the area.
\nUnder the administrative supervision of Secretary Tourism Shahid Sohail Khan, a Project Management Unit (PMU) has been established to materialize the goal of tourism promotion in the merged areas. With an objective to undertake cost cuttings, a state of the art level lean structured PMU Unit oversees all developmental projects through active interaction with all stakeholders, duly executed by the relevant provincial engineering departments.
\nIt has been ensured to create minimal financial and human resource liabilities for the government.
\nThe project aims to develop state of the art level Tourism Zones, tourist information centers, rest areas, picnic spots, tracks, camping pods and tourist rest houses in all tourist potential merged areas. Currently, projects worth Rs. 5 Billion are under execution on ground with active support of district administrations and field formations of Pakistan Army.
\nFurthermore, tourism promotion festivals are being held in merged districts with support of District Administration and Pakistan Army to promote the indigenous tourism potential of the area. These festivals will be held as calendar events in the pattern of Shandur festival so as to attract tourists to merged areas.
\nMoreover, visits of youth organizations from local universities and educational institutions etc. are sponsored and facilitated to visit these tourist destinations to promote and explore these areas.
\nHere it is pertinent to mention that the Provincial Government stands committed to explore and develop maximum tourism avenues in merged areas.
\nMultiple mega initiatives including construction of rest houses, restaurants, tourist information centres, construction of picnic spots and rest areas in merged districts have been approved under the Accelerated Implementation Program (AIP) and are about to be executed in due course of time. Once successfully completed, merged areas would not only be at par with other national tourist destinations but would be able to attract international tourists from the region and beyond.
\nThe tourism policy is built around six core strategic thrust areas including tourism and allied infrastructure development; quality assurance; institutional and regulatory reforms; marketing and image-building; workforce development; and resource mobilization.
\nAccording to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the direct contribution of travel and tourism to Pakistan\u2019s GDP in 2016 was Rs. 793 billion (equivalent to Rs. 4.0 trillion or US$14 billion in 2021), constituting 2.7% of the total GDP.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PESHAWAR The tourism potential of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in general and merged areas in particular is second to none in the region and through this way billions of dollars could be earned through exploring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Potential. Tourism is an important contributor to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa\u2019s economy and job creation, and the number of domestic tourists […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-343941","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-peshawar"},"yoast_head":"\n