After the killings of 10 foreign climbers in Gilgit
Baltistan last month in June 2013, tourism continues to suffer. Tourists from
all over the world now fear and are cancelling their organized visits to
Pakistan. Among which Kyle Dempster a US based climber writes in this regard to
Pakistan Tehreek e Taliban who took the responsibility of killing the tourists
as a protest that moved the general public on social, economical and moral
grounds, and also continues to devastate the lives of many in the Northern
region.
The Northern areas of Pakistan where the 7 highest peaks of
the world stand gloriously strong under the biggest glaciers of the world have
always been the major attraction for the adventure tourism industry climbers,
hikers, cyclists and hikers from all over the world.
An American climber, Kyle Dempster wrote a letter to Tehreek
e Taliban Paksitan registering his protest against the killings of the ten
tourists and highlighting the importance of tourism in Pakistan. Dempster said
that the climbers who are targeted were in their own mosque as Pakistan is “the
Mecca of climbers”. Describing the northern mountain series, he wrote, ‘most
stunning minarets on earth pierce sharply into the heavens, and from these
summits we find our understanding of purity, beg for mercy, and cleanse
ourselves of everything extraneous to the very place inside ourselves.’
In his letter, Dempster also wrote about the financial
problems that the tourism industry would face that could have benefited
Pakistan, and yet he supports their agenda on drone attacks and has been
activist against the misuse of power but utterly opposes Taliban’s actions over
the foreign climbers. His letter triggered a wave of awareness among people all
over Pakistan who understand the need of Tourism, development and revenue.
The recent incident has jolted the tourism industry and the
people who depend on tourism in these areas are hopeless and ready for another
year of little tourism.
The famous mountaineer and the president of an adventure
tourism company, Nazir Sabir says that the government does not have a favorable
approach for giving tourists visas to the foreigners, they claim to give
tourist visas in lacs but the number never exceeded 50,000, not even in the
“good times”. Criticizing the role of the government over tourism policy, Sabir
said, “I have given my life to the mountains but I have never seen Pakistan
Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) or the Government allowing tourists visa
to the foreigners.”
According to Sabir, if only the tourism industry would be
dealt seriously and security is provided to the locals and foreigners, the
whole Pakistan can be fed through it. ‘Taliban and Government do not understand
what rich tourism is being killed all out of ignorance and corruption, he
added.
Summer is considered the tourism season in this region,
later it gets too cold for climbing. A local, Farkhanda Ahmad said that the
locals are not extremists, they welcome the foreign tourists with open arms,
and many people depend on them for livelihood. The incident was the failure of
security agencies and it has ruined the image of tourism in Pakistan globally.
The deaths of the then tourists will affect the livelihood of millions.
Government and the local tourist guides claimed that after a
decade, the adventure tourism picked up the pace and but after the incident
thousands of tourists have cancelled their visits. Pakistan Tourism Development
Corporation PTDC claims that almost 1/3rd of the overall tourists have
cancelled their visit to Pakistan, and the remaining 65% are not linked with
the adventure tourism that involves trekking, camping, hiking and climbing
mountains.
The managing director of TDCP (Tourism Development
Corporation Punjab) stated that there was a huge increase of 30% tourists in
Pakistan this year which could exceed the revenue generated last year that was
around 700 million dollars per anum but now it would suffer immensely he said
“the tourism industry is largely linked with the major cities such as
Islamabad, Lahore, Pindi and Karachi that is the route for the tourists, after
the incident at Nanga Parbat now people are scared and economy suffers”.
The incident has not only harmed the tourism industry but it
has also halted many development programs of various NGOs and other public
welfare organizations. Rehman said “the institutes and infrastructure
development consists of many foreigners working on voluntarily basis, due to their
security reasons they along with their current projects have also been stopped
leaving the beneficiaries who were underprivileged families and children are
now also stranded.”
People from Gilgit Baltistan condemned the attacks on the
foreign tourists while the no proper action has yet been announced by the
Government or the army to secure the development in the troubled parts of
Pakistan that can be the source of some serious revenue.
The director of a local travel agency that has been very
active for organizing tours in the area in the recent years said that the
current Government claims to reform the security issues, if they would seize on
providing this basic necessity then there is no difference between this
government and the ones before it.
Recalling the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s era,
Sabir said that Bhutto started the tourism division in early 70s and later
developed a tourism policy for this which had never been implemented. According
to him, the main reason of failure in implementing a proper tourism policy is
that we have never been able to assess our potential and “never been introduced
to the world” that could generate immense revenue for Pakistan; and due to this
we have suffered a lot in the aftermath of 9/11.
