Tourism needs urgent coordination

Choked roads and packed hotels greet one upon venturing into the northern areas of Pakistan. The tourist season is in full swing with swarms of people from the south escaping the heat wave that has engulfed much of the country. As the previous month was Ramadan and the next month will see the end of children school holidays, the load is going to be much more than usual.

Domestic tourism has picked up greatly in recent years thanks to rising incomes coupled with better infrastructure connectivity. That has brought with itself both good and bad after-effects. One of the biggest positive effects has been income and employment generation for the locals who primarily rely on tourism as their sole source of income.

The reduction in foreign tourists in recent years due to the grim security situation is now being replaced by domestic tourists. But unfortunately domestic tourists are not sensitised when it comes to preserving the amazing natural beauty that the country is host to. In fact, locals are equally responsible in polluting and dumping waste into the rivers, valleys and mountainsides.

When BR Research interviewed the head of the Sustainable Tourism Foundation Pakistan (STFP) last year, Mr. Rana highlighted some grim statistics. Around 8000-9000 tourists check in to Naran every day during the tourist season. This produces around 4000 kilograms of waste on a daily basis which is subsequently dumped in the Kunhar river. The glacial river is now empty of its famous rainbow and brown trout and the water is not even fit for drinking purposes.

The reasons behind this are three-fold: Even though the area from Naran till Batakundi and Jhalkand boasts of quite a few spectacular spots, all the development has been concentrated in Naran. This has resulted in uncontrolled tourism traffic and extremely haphazard infrastructure development. Then there is the lack of waste management facilities which are virtually non-existent in the entire North.

Locals wistfully recall the plethora of glaciers that used to line the route going to Gilgit-Baltistan from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Rampant deforestation has resulted in increased land sliding as well. The low number of machinery available for clearing roads results in hours-long queues. Comparatively, things seem to be taking a turn for the worse every year.

Therefore, it is the need of the hour for the federal, provincial and local governments to get their act together. This column has previously highlighted that the provincial and local governments are well positioned to keep a check on the development of tourism assets and the necessary amenities, and the activities on the tourism hotspots under their jurisdictions. The federal government can aid in marketing efforts and enforce uniform service standards. A national-level national coordination mechanism is required. Otherwise, domestic tourism will flourish unabated, damage the tourism assets, and not do much to attract international tourists.