July 24, 2007	Tuesday	Rajab 08, 1428

SWAT, July 23: The tourism industry in Swat is reeling from the recent spate of suicide attacks and the standoff between the government and militants led by Maulana Fazlullah, crippling most money-making activities.

Normally hotels in Kalam, Saidu Sharif, Madyan, Miandam, Malam Jaba, Mingora and Bahrain have to be booked well in advance as they are packed with tourists during the peak season __ from June till August.

But summer this year has been very harsh for the over 1,300 hotels and motels across the region.

Some 12,000 people and their families are directly dependent on income generated by the hospitality industry here.

“This month, I have not received any foreigner,” says Fazlur Rehman, a receptionist at the Swat Continental Hotel, in Mingora town.

As the number of local tourists has also decreased by more than 85 per cent, the employees’ desperation is clearly visible as the flow of guests falls to a trickle at a time when the industry does roaring business in good days.

Most of the 60-odd hotels and motels in Mingora have seen their business drop by 90 per cent. The plight of about 160 restaurants dotted about the town is not much different.

There are 4,000 restaurants and eateries of all sizes in the seven tourist destinations in Swat and the law and order situation has hit the livelihood of 20,000-plus people and their families.

“It seems as if a bad spirit has descended on this area. Most hotels may have to close down as they will not be able to raise enough money to pay their employees’ salary,” says Javed Khan, who works in Sahil Hotel, in the Fiza Ghat area.The manager of another hotel said that last year, his firm was earning more than Rs60,000 a day. But during the past two weeks, their turnover has been just Rs40,000.

Tourism experts said that people running hotels on lease were fast heading towards bankruptcy. Hotel runners are finding it hard even to pay their utility bills and staff salaries.

“The hotel’s lease costs me Rs30,000 a day just for the three-month season. But now I haven’t been able to raise the same amount in two weeks,” says Malik Hakim Khan, who projects his losses at Rs 2 million by the end of August.

Tourist-dependent businesses like rent-a-car, which were started by innovative people over the past 15 years, have also suffered massively.

“If we totally rely on local people, I fear, we will be bankrupt soon,” says Haji Ghulam Ali, who owns a fleet of rental cars.

The decline in tourist arrivals has also affected gift shops and stores selling traditional items.

“There was a time when it was difficult even to find standing room in this bazaar. There were many tourists, including foreigners. Now you mostly see scared local people,” says Ghulam Qadir Khan, owner of a handicraft shop. Even the sale of the local trout fish has also declined. The same goes for yogurt and milk.

The sale of the only local newspaper has risen as the people are eager to keep themselves abreast of the latest political developments.

The locals blame the myopic pro-Shariat movement of Maulana Fazlullah for strangulating the region’s economy. Job opportunities in Swat have declined over the past 13 years in the wake of the depletion of the silk and cotton industry. The people blamed the government’s policies for their joblessness. And, today too, they are cursing the government for not stopping Maulana Fazlullah when his movement was in its infancy.

They recall with bitterness that Maulana Sufi Mohammad, the father-in-law of Maulana Fazlullah, also used to scare away tourists with his fire and brimstone rhetoric.