The Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) has developed 'Punjab Destinations Software' identifying 480 potential tourism sites across the province to help prospective tourists select their destination according to their interests.
"We have uploaded this software on our official website where people can visit and select any destination they want to explore as per their interest. These 480 sites can meet requirement of all the tourists who want to spend their holidays for recreational purpose or religious pilgrimage," sources in the Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) told Business Recorder on Thursday.
Prepared under the corporation's project of 'identification of potential areas for promotion of tourism', the database could be accessed from the corporation's website: tdcp.gop.pk.
The database was designed by the Pakistan Environmental Planning and Architectural Consultants (PEPAC) after detailed survey of these sites. The PEPAC had also proposed a number of interventions for policymakers to improve existing and develop new tourism sites across Punjab. It has also identified suitable places for recreational activities on the basis of connectivity and other essential facilities. It took almost six months to gather data from the field and designing database, the sources added.
The data available on the site shows the corporation had documented 418 existing tourism sites, including 41 potential/explored, 132 historical, 27 cultural, 119 religious, 188 recreational and 18 unexplored tourism sites.
The software shows the Lahore City has 57 tourism sites which make provincial capital the best tourism destination of Pakistan. It shows various tourism sites including Lahore Fort, Minar-e-Pakistan, Iqbal Tomb, Jillani Park, Lahore Zoo, Bagh Jinnah, Data Darbar, Anarkali Bazaar, Lahore Railway Station and Masjid Ibrahim have an estimated daily visitors' influx of around one million. The TDCP sources said that Lahore has all the potential to become an international tourist hub.
'See Lahore Bus' is another added attraction for the visitors which are more popular among the people from outside Lahore as its route takes them through to the present and past Lahore. The corporation believes there is a great need to take new initiatives to develop tourist resorts and allied facilities to meet the latest requirements of tourism industry and the tourists.