EDITORIAL: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been talking about promoting tourism to bolster the country’s foreign exchange reserves for a long time, and finally steps are being taken on the ground to turn that vision into reality. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to revert to the old definition of the word ‘tourist’ by once again allowing temporary import of vehicles by tourists, without payment of import duties or taxes, so long as those vehicles exit the country inside six months. This is how it was done in the old days, when Pakistan used to be a pretty hot tourist destination and before this privilege was abused by vested interests inside the country; to the point that things had to be changed. But now, given that tourism has been contributing a paltry two-point-something percent of GDP since forever and there is very little to suggest that it is going to improve without substantial help from the government, this step seems like a good idea to incentivise tourists, at least from nearby countries, to come to Pakistan.
It goes without saying, of course, that the neglect shown to the tourism sector by successive governments borders on the criminal simply because Pakistan has the best of everything to offer when it comes to attracting people from across the world who want nothing better than to spend good money to see mountains, rivers, historical and religious sites, ancient ruins, etc. Pakistan has all of this and more. Yet no government so far has made even the effort to develop all the sites that we have been blessed with and turn them into a money-making enterprise for the government and the people. For it is not just the country that earns better when people visit it, but also its citizens because of all the increased commerce that takes place.
Still, it’s not as if the government will press a button and tourists will immediately start pouring into Pakistan. We must not only set our house in order first but also erect the kind of infrastructure that is necessary to make our sites attractive to international travellers. We have already successfully overcome the most difficult of our problems and the times when bombs going off inside Pakistan were the biggest deterrent for foreign travellers are already well behind us; and practically the whole world acknowledges as much. The political temperature still needs to be brought down a little bit though, especially episodes that see certain parties resort to shutting down the country and making headlines for civil disobedience, disorder, even deaths, etc. Surely, the government realises all this and is taking the right steps to make sure that order will prevail at all times.
Even when all such problems are overcome, though, there will still be the matter of upgrading the existing infrastructure, roads, hotels, etc., around the main tourist attractions. For we can issue all the tourist visas we like, even allow foreigners to drive into this country if and when they want, but unless there are proper roads and accommodation at the best sites, most people are likely to go back disappointed. And this is going to be one of the government’s toughest problems simply because it does not have the money for it at the moment. The PM said a couple of months ago, when he inaugurated the heritage trail at Al Biruni point (Baghan Wala village) at the Nandana Fort in district Jhelum, that the government was working on a scheme to provide soft loans to young people precisely to get the private sector to help install some of the necessary infrastructure like hotels, etc. Needless to say, of course, that such initiatives will have to be fast tracked.
It’s very disappointing that even at this stage we are struggling to stimulate tourism, which should have happened a very long time ago. In addition to its majestic mountains and rivers, even a sea, the subcontinent has been home to numerous civilisations and dynasties, from the Maurya Empire (322-185 BCE) to the British Raj, not to mention religious influences of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jews, Christians and of course Muslims. If Turkey could push its tourism earning to around $35 billion every year before the pandemic, just by putting in the necessary homework, then we should be able to improve our earnings as well.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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