IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM INDUSTRY | TDCP Pakistan:

Tourism is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries just like TDCP Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab as well as the major source of foreign exchange earnings and employment for Pakistan. The tourism industry is important for the growth of an economy as it generates opportunities for employment. Other than this, income is generated due to the goods and services consumed by tourists. Moreover, the taxes can also be taken on the business of tourism industry which further can be used for different welfare purposes.

ALARMING STATE OF TOURISM INDUSTRY.

Unfortunately, the authorities that are concerned with the tourism industry of Pakistan “TDCP |Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab” have not paid attention to this industry. The tourism industry of Pakistan is affected badly not only due to the law and order situation of the country but also due to the unnecessary conditions and restrictions which are imposed on the traveling of international tourists to different places.

9 CAUSES OF DECLINE

Following are the causes for the decline of tourism industry in Pakistan.

TERRORISM: The first and the main reason that affected the tourism industry of Pakistan. Terrorism caused the tourism industry of Pakistan to stand at a very low level. The areas which depend heavily on tourism like the Gilgit Baltistan and other northern areas of Pakistan faced a high loss. Sawat valley was the most visited place by foreign as well as domestic tourists due to its natural beauty, rich culture, and civilized history. But due to terrorism and military operations in the last few years, SAWAT Valley lost its visitors which resulted in the form of unemployment and affected the economy of the country badly.

UNIMPORTANCE: Tourism Industry is facing unimportance by the both federal government and the provincial also. Less attention is always paid to this industry. Due to less attention to be paid, this industry is facing a loss which is actually a loss in the GDP of the country.

TRANSPORTATION  AND COMMUNICATION:   The third cause of the decline of this industry in  Pakistan is poor transportation and the communication sector. It plays a very important role in the development of the tourism industry.

DEPRIVED INFRASTRUCTURE: deprived infrastructure of the tourist spots which fails to attract the tourists and causes a decline in the tourism industry. Pakistan has lack of proper roads; railway tracks an effective transportation system to visit the far off and hilly places through rough roads. This poor infrastructure is the hurdle in the way of the development of this industry.

LACK OF INCENTIVES: The lack of incentives in the tourism sector, socio-cultural constraints, and lack of advertising to the people of the world to attract them to visit Pakistan. The lack of advertising through social media and through other resources made the tourism points of the country to be less visited as compared to the same type of visited areas in the rest of the world.

LACK OF FESTIVALS: lack of organizing the special cultural programs and festivals, sports programs, and different types of other entertaining programs to attract tourists. That is why people don’t found it interesting and don’t know about the different cultures of Pakistan.

SUBSIDIZING OF INDUSTRY:  The Seventh cause of the decline in this industry is not providing subsidies by the government to promote tourism. Because if there is no incentive for the people to attract the tourists to the country they will not find it useful to do the effort for the promotion of tourism in the country.

POOR MAINTAINS OF THE BEAUTY: uncleanness and poor maintenance of the beautiful places of the country. Due to this tourists prefer to visit the clean and safe areas. If the visiting areas will not be kept clean people will not attract and the tourism industry will fell down more.

LAW AND ORDER SITUATION: the poor and unjust law and order situation in the country particularly in the far-off areas where justice is given to people not in the courts but in the “jirgas”. This situation makes the tourists not feel fear-free and comfortable which ultimately makes the tourism low in these areas.  

FINDINGS:

Less attention is paid to this sector of the economy by the public as well as private sector during the last few decades, which resulted in a decline of the tourism industry. The low investment in this industry by the private sector is mainly due to the lack of support given by the government sector and also the lack of a good policy structure that could boost the industry. The total number of tourists arriving in the world is 694 million per year but Pakistan receives only 0.5 million tourists from this share per year. Pakistan has a rich culture that can boost tourism activities. By creating more opportunities and taking steps to promote the tourism industry can lead to Pakistan among the most visited countries in the world

This Article is written by

Memoona Javed | MSC | Fatima Jinnah University

Thanks from E-SyedHassan