Virus surge delays government's plan to re-open tourism industry

In this file photo, foreign tourists and porters rest at a camping site above Baltoro glacier in the Karakoram range of Pakistan's mountain northern Gilgit region on Aug. 12, 2019. (AFP)

• Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remain hesitant to receive tourists
• Government predicts tourism to contribute Rs1 trillion to Pakistan’s economy by 2025

ISLAMABAD: Owing to a sharp rise in Pakistan's coronavirus cases in the past week, the government's plan to reopen tourism industry to boost its national exchequer remains damp.  
Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced last week to lift restrictions on the tourism sector after consultation with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) governments in a bid to revive economy for the local populace, but the administrations of these federating units are yet not willing to implement the instructions.
“We have prepared guidelines in view of the coronavirus for tourists and the industry, but a final decision on reopening of the scenic spots is yet awaited,” Zarmina Waheed, an assistant tourism officer with the Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told Arab News on Sunday.
She said the provincial government had set up committees comprising locals and lawmakers to formulate precautionary guidelines for both tourists and the industry to revive the economy and create jobs.
“It is a difficult job to make both tourists and the industry people to follow the guidelines to stem the spread of virus, but still we are doing our best to revive the sector,” she said.
The direct contribution of travel and tourism to Pakistan’s GDP in 2016 was Rs793 billion, constituting 2.7 percent of the total GDP. By 2025, the government predicts tourism will contribute ₨1 trillion to the Pakistani economy, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
The South Asian nation of  220 million closed all the tourist spots in March this year to prevent spread of the virus, but officials said this had hit millions of people hard in the KP and GB -- two main hubs for domestic and international tourism.
“We want to reopen the sector, but spike in the coronavirus cases in the region keeps us indecisive,” Fida Muhammad Nashad, Speaker at Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly, told Arab News.
He said the tourism industry was providing direct and indirect jobs to millions of people in the region as thousands of tour operators, hoteliers, transporters, porters and local businesses were associated to it.
Nashad said that around a million tourists visited the picturesque northern area last year, and that this number was expected to exponentially escalate this year due to improved road infrastructure.
“The virus has rendered thousands in the region jobless,” he said. “We are trying our best to overcome the challenges to revive the economy.”
Both KP and GB offer numerous tourist attractions including glaciers, lakes, forests and world’s highest peaks. Thousands of foreigners visit the area each year to climb up the Himalayan peaks and savor the rich culture.
“Some groups in the EU and the US are ready to visit Pakistan for mountain expedition once restrictions on tourism are lifted,” Asghar Ali Porik, a tour operator, told Arab News.
He said that around 40 tourist operators were working in Pakistan and each one of them would employ over 500 local people in KP and GB as tour guides and porters during the season from June to September.
“Everything is on the hold, and we are waiting for the government’s decision to reopen the industry,” Porik said, adding that “livelihoods of thousands of people associated with the sector are at stake.”