PESHAWAR: The arrival of millions of tourists to Malakand and Hazara Divisions from all over the country during Eid-ul-Azha vacations generated huge employment opportunities and an estimated Rs4 billion in revenue.
For the first time in history, such a large influx of tourists arrived in Kalam and Bahrain that local hotels were not able to provide accommodation, forcing thousands of tourists to stay in tents and locals’ rooms and houses.
KP Tourism Department spokesman Latif-ur-Rehman said that because of the ban on visiting tourist destinations due to Covid-19 restrictions, millions of tourists came to KP instead.
According to Latif, more than 550,000 tourist vehicles were recorded in Malakand Division alone during Eid holidays, while more than 200,000 vehicles and more than 1 million tourists entered Galiyat whereas more than 1.2 million tourists in 300,000 vehicles visited Kaghan between July 17 and July 24.
Apart from Malakand and Hazara, more than one lakh tourists visited North Waziristan.
Asif, a tourist from Karachi, said that tourist destinations in KP are facing difficulties in providing accommodation and the provincial government should improve facilities to attract foreign tourists.
He urged the tourism department to search for more destinations to reduce the burden on sites in Hazara and Malakand divisions and improve communication issues to increase tourist arrivals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and also provide employment opportunities to locals of far off areas.
