May 2, 2006	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 3, 1427

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RAWALPINDI, May 1: The attraction of foreign tourists to the vast potential of tourism in the Northern Areas of Pakistan is growing and there is no truth at all in the impression created in the West that the territory was affected by the October 8 earthquake that devastated Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

“It is an impression in the West that the October 8 earthquake also affected the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Such information carried by the western media has misled the intending tourists who wish to visit Northern Areas of Pakistan,” Friedrich Falch, an Austrian town planner, told Dawn on Monday.

Northern Areas remained unaffected, and this is high time, the government dispel this impression being carried out in the western media so that the beautiful landscape and cultural heritage of Northern Areas continue to attract tourists.

Asked about the facilities by the government to promote tourism, he said the situation now was much better as compared to 10 years back. Tourists now face no problem in getting visas. However, he said, flights between India and Pakistan should be increased in order to cater to the needs of tourists.

He said foreign tourists would prefer this route in view of the civil unrest which occasionally plagued Karachi.

Mr Falch, who was honoured by the Pakistan government with Tamgha-i-Khidmat in 2004 in recognition of his services to Pakistan, went on to say that there was no security threat to tourists in Pakistan. Many websites in European countries advise their citizens not to visit Pakistan in view of security threat.

“I must say this is not true; western tourists should not believe in such information, and at the same time Pakistan should also take measures with the start of the tourism season,” he said.

Mr Falch, accompanied by his wife returned to Rawalpindi on Monday after taking part in the reconstruction work in Kalam. He collected 200,000 euros in Austria for the earthquake victims.

With the help of a local NGO, he is taking part in the reconstruction process. He has provided 10,000 GI sheets and other construction material in addition to training villagers in how to construct earthquake-prone houses. He is also helping reconstruction of a school with the partnership of an Austrian girl school.

Mr Falch, who has designed tourism resorts and hotels and tourism training centres, said the post-earthquake situation in Balakot and Kaghan was worst.

These areas lacked roads and other infrastructure, and it would take a few years to get them restored. Mr Falch disclosed that a hotel training institute located at Galibagh near Saidu Sharif, completed three and half years ago, is still without any activity.

The Austrian government paid 66 per cent cost of the institute, built under Pakistan-Austrian initiative for tourism and hotel management. He said the institute was now under the control of the tourism ministry. The institute is fully equipped to train trekkers and mountaineers in addition to hotel management courses.