Wali Ullah Shah
NOWSHERA: On the directives of secretary Tourism Department, the officials of Directorate of Tourist Services (DTS) and representatives of district government sealed 11 unregistered restaurants and hotels in Pabbi Tehsil of Nowshera district on Wednesday.
Prior to the action, the DTS officials including Inspector Idrees, Inspector Sajid and Zuhaib met the Additional Assistant Commissioner Pabbi, Binash Imran, and apprised the official that action is being taken against the unregistered hotels, restaurants, rent-A car and travel agencies in the district. The official was also told that action would be taken against the hotels, restaurants and eateries which served substandard food stuffs and edibles.
A team of DTS headed by Inspector Idrees and district government representatives in a joint action sealed 11 unregistered hotels, restaurants and eatery outlets. The official said that some of the hotels were also serving substandard and unhygienic food stuffs to customers for which the hotels were closed down. The team also raided various bazars in Pabbi tehsil and directed the owners of rent A-cars, hotels, restaurants and travel agencies to register their businesses with the DTS forthwith or else legal action would be taken against the illegal businesses.
The official said that the registration process would help promote tourism in the province besides facilitating the tourists to get data of hotels, restaurants and travel agencies online. Since up-gradation of the Tourist Services Wing of the Tourism Department to a full-fledged Directorate of Tourist Services (DTS), the entity has been effectively controlling and supervising the hotel and travel industry and other businesses related to tourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Besides making arrangements for provision of quality services to tourists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and outside Pakistan through tour operators, the directorate also generates valuable revenue from the tourism industry for the provincial exchequer.
