September 28, 2006	Thursday	Ramazan 4, 1427

PESHAWAR, Sept 27: Archaeologists and tour operators have asked the provincial government to establish handicraft centres and shops in various places in and around Swat for promoting tourism.

They were speaking at a ceremony held to mark the World Tourism Day, which was observed across the world on Wednesday. It was organised by the Sarhad Tourism Corporation here at the Peshawar Museum.

Provincial minister for tourism and archaeology Hussain Ahmed Kanju said that the NWFP government had chalked out a plan for the development of tourists points in the province. He said besides beautiful valleys, NWFP had centuries old rich Gandhara heritage and some 1,600 untapped archaeological sites.

The minister said tourism, museums and archaeology were inter-related and their unification was needed for promotion of tourism activities in the province. He said tourism was a sector that could provide a sound base to the country’s economy, if properly planned. The government, he said, was determined to give the status of industry to the tourism sector, as it was backbone of the economy of the country.

Prof Khushdil Sehrai, proposed to the NWFP government to set up handicraft centres, traditional food streets and folk music centres across the tourist points. He said tourist groups usually came to see the cultural treasure troves located in the pastoral and rural parts of the country.

He said the replica of Buddha artifacts could be produced for commercial purpose. He said: “Gandhara is considered a sacred place in the Yellow belt. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Sri Lankan and other Asian followers of the Buddha will find a great attraction here if it is developed properly.”

He asked the STC managers to take tourists to the traditional wedding and music parties as it would boost tourism.

He said in India tourists were taken to the traditional music gatherings, and suggested that we can make tourism a colourful industry by incorporating rural environment and life into it.