Tourism is a growing industry in Pakistan and with more foreign investment and funding flowing in, including from Saudi Arabia, the country has been able to develop infrastructure.
It has now built major road and air networks to cater for the mass movement of cargo and inter-city travel. Roads are being developed by several consultants from the Northern Areas all the way down to the Port of Karachi.
Often described as the “next big thing” of the tourism industry, tourism in Pakistan, with its diverse culture, people and landscapes, attracted 1 million tourists last year, which is expected to grow further by the end of this year. The main destinations of choice for these tourists are the Khyber Pass, Peshawar, Karachi, Lahore, Swat and Rawalpindi.
In its bid to promote tourism in the recent past, Pakistan, which has unique and varied cultural heritage, launched a campaign in 2007 called “Visit Pakistan,” which involved various events throughout the year including fairs and religious festivals, regional sporting events, various arts and craft shows, folk festivals and several openings of historical museums. Consequently, the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report published in 2009 ranked Pakistan as one of the top 25 percent tourist destinations for its World Heritage sites.
Pakistan enjoys good tourism relations with Saudi Arabia and religious and cultural tourism form a major part of their cordial relation.
Enthusiasm is growing among the younger generation in Pakistan to perform Haj and Umrah, and according to a recent survey by a Pakistani media, every 10th person seen in Holy Ka’ba or Masjid-i-Nabvi in Madinah is a Pakistani. Urdu and Punjabi speakers wearing shalwar kameez or western suits can be seen all around.
Saudis too visit Pakistan in substantial numbers. The tourist’s attraction in the country ranges from the ruins of the historical sites of Harappan civilization mainly at its two megapolis Harappa and Mohenjo-daro and the site of one of the most ancient university in the world at Taxila, to the Himalayan hill stations, which attract those interested in winter sports.
Pakistan is also home to several mountain peaks towering over 7,000 meters, which attracts adventurers and mountaineers from around the world, especially K2, the second highest peak in the world after Mt. Everest.
The northern part of Pakistan has many old fortresses, ancient architecture and the Hunza and Chitral valley, home to small pre-Islamic Animist Kalasha community claiming to be descendants of Alexander the Great.
The romance of the historic Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is timeless and legendry. Punjab province boasts of the site of Alexander’s battle on the Jhelum River and the historic city Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural capital, with many examples of Mughal art and architecture such as Badshahi Masjid, Shalimar Gardens, Tomb of Jahangir and the Lahore Fort.
The Saudi Government has provided extensive religious and educational aid to Pakistan, being a major contributor to the construction of mosques and madrassas (Islamic seminaries) across Pakistan, and one of the major tourist destination in Pakistan — the Faisal Mosque (dedicated to King Faisal) in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, is the epitome of growing cultural ties between the Kingdom and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Responding to the rich support provided by the Kingdom, Pakistan renamed one of its major cities Lyallpur as Faisalabad in honor of King Faisal in 1977. Saudi Arabia was also a major supporter of the “Islamization” program of the Pakistani military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1970s.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia remains a major destination for immigration amongst Pakistanis, whose numbers in Saudi Arabia stands between 900,000 and 1 million.
Strengthening the cultural ties, Pakistan also conferred King Abdullah with their highest civilian decoration, Nishan-e-Pakistan, in 2006. President General Pervez Musharraf conferred the highest civilian award of the country in recognition of his outstanding contribution to development of greater understanding and co-operation between the two countries.
Recently a non-governmental organization was also launched to promote education, trade, investment and tourism between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in Islamabad. Besides promoting economic and cultural ties with the Kingdom, the NGO will also facilitate the exchange of visits of educationists between the two countries.
The reason for Pakistan being a major tourist destination is because of the multiple attractions in the country. The diverse culture, traditions, historical places, beautiful valleys like Swat and Murree, a popular hill station and a summer resort for tourists are all factors behind Pakistan being an attractive tourist spot.
Historic places such as Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa and Taxila attract archaeologists from all over the world to come and visit the wonderful historic civilizations which are a part of Pakistan.
Other than these, the valleys of Pakistan have been able to attract tourists for a long period of time. These are Swat, Hunza , Naran, Kaghan and beautiful hills like Murree, Nathia Gali, and Changa Gali.
The major cities of Pakistan are not behind when it comes to attracting foreign tourists. All of them have different aspects which define Pakistani culture and traditions. Lahore is Pakistan’s second largest city and it is home to a large number of cultural places which has given it the title of being the cultural heart of the country.
The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is known for its bountiful nature including valleys and plains. The Karakoram highway is also located in the vicinity of the province. Other cities like Karachi which is the largest city of Pakistan is the business center and commercial capital of the country. It is the city of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his mausoleum is an attractive tourist spot. It is known for its beautiful and luxurious hotels such as the Pearl Continental, Marriot and Sheraton.
The government of Pakistan is trying to attract more tourists to Pakistan by initiating the sponsorship of new businesses within the tourist market and building and maintaining road and air networks to meet international standards.
The vast human and natural resources can also contribute to the development of this growing industry as advertising campaigns need to attract tourist by developing holiday packages tailored to explore the great regions of the country.