Pakistan, India lose $900 million tourism income

Pakistan and India are losing a share of more than $900 million a year from international tourism market due to tension in the region.
There is a hope that India and Pakistan while resorting to confidence-building measures (CBMs) may go to a position where they can activate regional co-operation to promote tourism in the subcontinent.
These views expressed in a special report released by Ecotourism Society Pakistan (ESP) in connection with World Tourism Day here on Tuesday.
South Asia is losing its share in world tourism constantly since September 11 tragedy and nations at most disadvantage are India, Pakistan and Nepal due to political unrest and poverty in mountainous areas of all three countries.
In the absence of international tourism activities, these countries must work on domestic as well as regional tourism to sustain in the tourism market, the report said.
It said that tourism authorities of India and Pakistan, despite having three meetings during the last one year, did not announce co-branding (offering international tours of both countries in one tour) which indicated that authorities are not seriously working to boost regional or international tourism in the region due to political tensions.
The report was prepared from the data collected by Indian, Nepalese and Pakistani experts of tourism who also observed that the share of communities in tourism revenue in India and Pakistan is practically zero.
The places where the tourists stay and have their meals are now concentrated in small towns, instead of being in villages, the report said, adding that it would be important to evolve strategies for dispersing tourist destinations if gains for local communities are to be maximised.
The experience in Nepal has shown that tourism and conservation can reinforce each other especially if strategies and processes ensure gains to local communities.
In Pakistan, tourism agencies are located mostly in major cities and control a major segment of the market for domestic tourists.
The latter include metropolitan cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and in India include Delhi and Mumbai and smaller regional cities such as Chandigarh and Shimla. They compete fiercely with each other - to the advantage of international agencies.