Talking to a delegation of Gandahara Art and Culture, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan told that the government is keen to exploit the full potential of tourism in the province and a comprehensive plan in this regard is being worked out under which concrete steps would be taken across Khyber Pukhtunkwa. He disclosed that 13 new spots have identified which will be developed for tourists’ attraction by providing there state-of-art facilities.
In a number of countries tourism is major source of revenue generation and it contributes significantly to the national income. Egypt earns billions of dollars from the visits of foreign tourists annually who visits the spots of scenic beauty and relics of ancient civilizations. Khyber Pukhtunkhwa has both numerous spots of scenic beauty and relics of Gandahra Civilization.
The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has already recommended the World Bank funded $127 million tourism project of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa government for the approval by Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC). The implementation of the project will improve tourism promotion infrastructure, increase tourism assets and strengthen destination management for sustainable tourism development. It remains to be seen how best the provincial government pursues this important project at meeting of this forum
Although the incidents of terrorism in the province have significantly decreased yet foreign tourists are reluctant to visit the places of tourist attraction. Better security environment will increase the number of foreign tourists to the old and new tourist spots in the province.
