ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has relaxed travel restrictions in the hope of elevating a slumbering tourism industry by offering visas on arrival to citizens of 50 countries and electronic visas to visitors from 175 countries, minister of information Fawad Chaudhry said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Chaudhry said the travel reforms were aimed at reviving a tourism industry all but destroyed by Islamist violence in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and a decade-long insurgency waged by indigenous Taliban fighters in Pakistan.
“We have mountain tourism, we have beach tourism. Pakistan is a heaven for tourists," Chaudhry said, hinting that the new travel rules would also ease restrictions on foreign journalists.
The image that high light the new visa regime. (Photo by PID)
As part of the reforms approved by cabinet, tourists will also be free to visit the politically sensitive regions of Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and other northern areas, which currently require special permission and no-objection certificates. The policy also says only approved tour operators will be allowed to bring groups of tourists into Pakistan.
The actual scale of domestic tourism is hard to judge, as scant nationwide data exists since the government dissolved the federal tourism ministry in 2011.
A deteriorating security situation in the last decade has chipped away at the number of visitors that come to Pakistan each year but tough military crackdowns in recent years have seen a dramatic improvement in law and order.
“Foreign tourists were always concerned about the security situation, and we are now in a position to convince them not to be afraid,” said Owais Usman, the director of one Islamabad-based travel agency.
A view of a newly constructed home in Malam Jabba, scenic Swat valley, while snow covering a mountain peak can also be seen in the background. (AN photo by Aamir Shah)
Mukhtar Ali, manager for publicity at the Pakistan Tourism and Development Corporation, said 2.5 million tourists visited Pakistan last year and the Corporation's goal was to double that number to 5 million in the next three years.
“We hope the new visa policy will not only help increase the number of foreign tourists, but also their contribution to our economy,” he said.
A view of a historic stupa, sacred to Buddhists, in Mingora city of scenic Swat valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. (AN photo by Aamir Shah)
