by Hamna Ghias Sheikh in The Nation, Dec 6, 2020
Pakistan comprises astounding tourist destinations, which attracts a number of tourists from across the world. The tourism industry has been playing an important role in a country in terms of projecting Pakistan as a tourist-friendly destination, along with providing facilities like transport, accommodation and dealing with all other ancillary facilities. Travelers on their visits to Pakistan, experience the historical heritage of one of the oldest civilisations in the world. The geography of every country of the globe plays an important part in many different ways. It is the source of reflecting the landscape of an area, its topographical features and the dwellers of that particular region. Pakistan is naturally blessed to have Gilgit-Baltistan. Although the lingering status of province has somehow setback the actual potential of tourism in this area, the land of highest mountain ranges of Karakoram, Himalayas and Hindukush ultimately adds on to Pakistan’s geostrategic location. The region’s diverse culture, rugged mountains, gorgeous lakes and hospitable people is the centre of attention for people around the world. The land of Gilgit-Baltistan offers three types of tourism; eco-tourism, adventure tourism and cultural tourism, making it the most attractive tourist destination in Pakistan.
Despite the fact that this heavenly region has huge potential for tourism but still tourists have to face many traversing problems including lack of connectivity between the valleys, absence of infrastructure, lack of planning and expensive traveling, inadequate ancillary and communication services, the absence of tourist information centres, unavailability of public toilets on various tourist spots; these issues are of great concern for a traveller. Apart from the accommodation issues, there are some other problems as well which are faced by tourists while visiting Gilgit-Baltistan such as on their visit to Khunjerab pass, which is the highest mountain pass in the Karakorum mountains, and the northern border between China and Pakistan, where the scenic beauty catches the attention of all international and domestic tourists. Unfortunately, the paucity of tourist facilities like unavailability of relaxing benches and lack of resting areas for enjoying the views at the world’s highest mountain border is quite disappointing for tourists. After covering the hours-long journey, the lack of facilities becomes a hedge in their calmness. Moreover, a dearth of medical facilities provided to the tourists visiting this area is another major concern. Traveling at the elevation level of 4,693 m makes it arduous for travellers to breathe easily but alas, no measures have been taken so far for providing medical facilities to the tourists visiting this area.
The sector of tourism is indispensable for sustaining the economy of Pakistan. Since the country has the potential of utilising tourism for economic progress therefore, this particular sector needs dire attention. With the current government’s major initiatives for granting provisional provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan, alongside the gigantic China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which will ultimately boost the tourism sector of this area, the future expectations from Gilgit-Baltistan seems to be sparkling. With respect to the traversing issues faced by the tourists while visiting Gilgit-Baltistan, the government should take such steps for sustainable progress in the tourism sector of Pakistan by answering all the grievances of the tourists who pay visit to Gilgit-Baltistan. Installation of portable resting areas, camping pods just like those in KP, providing medical and emergency evacuation plans is solely the responsibility of the tourism industry of Pakistan. If the government does not take into account the problems posed by the tourism industry, the tourism potential of this area would lose its sheen in the future.
