Tourists took keen interest in the rich culture and traditions of Pakhtuns during the five-day International Tourism Trade Fair at Madrid. A large people turned up to the venue and evinced keen interest in the photos of serene and lush green valleys of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and got information about the region, said a press release issued here on Sunday.
The Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP) established a stall at the tourism fair to provide information to the tourists and visitors about the scenic spots in Pakistan, particularly the KP.
The Feria Internacional de Turismo (Fitur), was kicked off in Madrid on Wednesday as part of the United Nation World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)'s efforts to promote tourism in the member countries.
The TCKP's stall in Fitur highlighted the Gandhara arts, trekking, culture, adventure tourism and heritage through brochures and pamphlets about Peshawar, Chitral, Swat, and Hazara valleys of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that attracted the tourists. The organisers provided information and necessary guidance to a large number of potential tourists and visitors to the stall. Pakistan used to be a regular participant of this mega event till year 2000 but the involvement was disrupted later due to unknown reasons.
However, the TCKP took another bold initiative and established stall at the international trade fair to represent and promote Pakistan tourism in general and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tourism in particular, said an official. He said TCKP's participation was also playing an important role in promoting soft image of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and fighting negative propaganda at international level.
TCKP as a leading model of tourism corporation in Pakistan is setting new trends for the promotion of tourism, through public-private partnership in Pakistan and abroad.
Fitur is held every year in Madrid, the headquarters of UNWTO. It is sponsored by UNWTO in collaboration with the government of Spain. Fitur is a tourism business market that covers Europe and Ibero-American markets in terms of tourist generation to different countries and works for promoting international tourism with UNWTO.