CHITRAL: A local representative and stakeholder of tourism industry demanded the establishment of a training camp for tour operators, tour guides and high-altitude porters as well as the hotel owners in the local tourist resorts to bring the industry at par with its neighbouring districts and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Talking to the journalists in Chitral Press Club here on Sunday, Sahib Irfan, a local tour operator, said that there was tremendous potential of the promotion of tourism and hospitality in Chitral which could take thousands of youth into its fold and provide them with employment.

The tourism expert maintained that they departments concerned had to impart professional training to the youth as taxi drivers, porters, hotel owners and tour guides in Chitral to train them in the handling of tourists, especially the foreigners, for the promotion of tourism.

Mr. Irfan regretted that due to the poor infrastructure in the area, very few mountaineering expeditions had come to scale the 200 plus peaks of Hindu Kush and Hind Raj systems of mountains.

He asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA) to arrange specialised training for stake holders and make concrete efforts for giving projection and promotion to the tourism industry in Chitral.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2024