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Pakistan moves to boost tourism profile

Imtiaz Muqbil

With Indian tourism proving to be one of the primary beneficiaries of the country's economic development, Pakistan is moving rapidly to ensure that it does not get left behind.

Hashim Khan, managing director of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, told a press conference at ITB Berlin 2006 that, although Pakistan's "social and religious constraints do not allow us to offer tourism like that of Thailand, Spain or Germany," the country has many other cultural, historic and religious assets worth promoting. In fact, he said that Pakistan had more places of interest for non-Muslims than Muslims.

Although Pakistan has participated in ITB for several years, it is only the second time that it has held a press conference. Its new strategic tourism agenda is to fit Pakistan into a wider axis that will build upon growing cross-border travel with India, promote 'Silk Road' itineraries with China, boost travel within South Asia and attract visitors to its many religious spots of interest to Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists.

Khan said the country had benefited considerably from the appointment of former World Bank senior executive Shaukat Aziz as its prime minister. Aziz separated tourism into a separate ministerial portfolio, which was previously being lumped together with youth, culture and sports, and promised it "the moon and the sky" in marketing money. However, he declined to say exactly how much. "We were always strapped for cash when we were part of a bigger ministry," he said adding, "And we have never seen a prime minister taking a personal interest in tourism. The world can expect a very big shift in attention towards tourism."

Pakistan's visitor arrivals are tabulated as part of its July-June fiscal year. In 2004-05, it received 6,50,000 visitors and is hoping to cross the one million mark this year. Khan admitted that technically, the thousands of people who came to help Pakistan after last year's tragic earthquake, would be included in those numbers.

He noted that the increasing frequency of cross-border bus services, especially between Lahore and Amritsar, could greatly facilitate religious tourism. He referred to the ancient Buddhist Gandhara civilisation in the country's northern area, the birth and death of Guru Nanak in Pakistan, as well as many Hindu spots, some of which were visited by L K Advani last year. He said that Pakistan would organise 'Gandhara Week' again this year, inviting Buddhist scholars and writers from all over the world to celebrate the ancient culture.

There is also a strong possibility of promoting tourism in cooperation with Afghanistan, which participated in ITB for the first time. He noted that many tour operators were including Afghanistan, especially the Bamiyan sites, in the itinerary and that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would soon be starting flights from Peshawar to Kabul and Quetta to Kandahar. It is presently operating twice weekly from Islamabad to Kabul.

Khan cited the many opportunities that Pakistan's mountain ranges offer to develop winter sports and adventure tourism; the spots at which Greek conqueror Alexander the Great fought and lost as well as the ancient civilisation of the Indus Valley, one of UNESCO's several world heritage sites. Plans are also underway for a motor rally from Urumqi in China to Lahore sometime in September.

He admitted that the biggest impediment was the visa issuance procedure, which he indicated was being sorted out on a priority basis, especially with India, which has the potential to become the largest source of arrivals. He said that Pakistan has proposed to the Indian government to mutually clear visas for organised groups from both countries in three to four days as against the current two months. The same applies to people of Indian origin but holding other citizenship.

Another proposal is that individual visits to the two countries should no longer be restricted to specific cities. This restriction, in place under bilateral protocol signed with India more than 30 years ago, is now obsolete, Khan said. For other citizens, plans to issue visas on arrival are on the cards.

Overall, he said, there has been "tremendous progress" in advancing travel relations with India. "You will be amazed at the way things are easing up. I think the time is not far when more relaxed travel facilities will be available to everybody." He was hopeful that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries would one day be able to issue SAARC visas which, similar to the European Schengen visa, would allow travellers to visit several countries in one go.

Journalists who inquired about the security situation were told to make a clear distinction between "facts and perceptions." Insisting that Pakistan has far less sectarian-related violence compared to other South Asian countries, he added, "There are isolated acts of violence everywhere. Pakistan is not the only country. Can you say America is a safe place? You cannot walk at night in many big cities, but people go there, too." He added that many who visited Pakistan, including Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar have returned home safely to say that "they had seen nothing of what is reported in the media."

He said the same in response to a question about anti-Americanism, noting that while there may be issues at the policy level, the Pakistani people knew of the considerable help and assistance that had been offered by the West to its earthquake victims, including visits by Hollywood stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

One female journalist who raised the issue of dress code for women visitors was told that they would face no problem as long as they observed the local tradition of dressing modestly and staying away from the kind of places that they would stay away from in their own hometowns.

PIA is also doing its bit to promote tourism. It is now flying thrice-weekly non-stop to Toronto and thrice weekly non-stop to New York. A new business plan for the 2006-2011 period approved last year envisages a fleet development plan of 12 Boeing 777, 10 Turboprops, three new generation medium capacity aircraft, three Airbus A310 freighters and seven narrow body aircraft. PIA's plans to go global by 2011-end include network expansions by adding new destinations including Glasgow, Los Angles, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Melbourne/Sydney, Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, Tehran, Istanbul, Zurich, Shanghai, Seoul, Almaty, Madrid and Barcelona. The airline has also begun advertising to hire its first European stewardesses.

The author is executive editor, Travel Impact Newswire based in Bangkok