KARACHI. “We should be respectful to all religions,” said Sardar Magan Singh at the first annual Karachi Tourism Mart, organised by the Association of Karachi Tour Operators, held at the Expo Centre on March 28 and 29.

While Pakistan’s Sikh population is negligible, about 90 per cent of the religion’s holy sites are situated in Pakistan.

Sikhs are not the only religious minority that laments the lack of access to religious tourism at home and abroad.

“We request the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make religious tourism packages for us Christians, like there are packages for Haj and Umrah,” says Christian Catholic representative Agha Tameer Bagga.

Govt urged to introduce religious tourism packages for minorities; two-day exhibition concludes

“There are about five million of us in the country, and it would cost us about Rs1.5 to Rs2 million to go on religious pilgrimages to our holy sites. However, many of us cannot afford it,” he lamented.

Pakistan is a market of about 50 million potential domestic tourists, estimates a report of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan. However, foreign visitors on tourist visas numbered only about 28,000 in 2019, excluding pilgrims, business, or family/spouse visas.

One challenge for foreign tourists is the lack of information about Pakistan. Content is a bottleneck, especially in a market as linguistically diverse as Pakistan’s.

‘Integrating AI’

Integrating tech into tourism, Hamza Ali Chaudhry, founder and CEO of Poiesis Systems, says one piece of content can be translated into 70-plus languages without sounding like AI, thereby significantly lowering the marginal cost of global outreach.

Gone are the days of physical travel agent offices, with 72pc of bookings now taking place online via WhatsApp. However, this creates operational challenges. “When customers come to you for information, they send a lot of messages… the main channel being used is WhatsApp,” says Mr Chaudhry. For most operators, this translates into 200-300 messages daily. How many sales agents can one person keep to reply to them? This is where Poiesis positions its AI layer. “If you stop that drop-off through AI, we have noticed revenue increase by 3x in a noticeable period of six months due to retention.”

Tourism of Karachiites

“Around 65-70pc of the revenue for northern hotels and resorts comes from Karachi,” says Syed Usama, founder of Travel Trucker and member of the Association of Karachi Tour Operators (Akto). Till recently, Akto was a WhatsApp group of tour operators that had come together to form a registered association. The logic being that if Karachi is underwriting the industry, it should also have a collective voice.

While Karachiites travel up North to see ice and mountains, those in the North come down to visit the coastal belt. “There is a train safari to Mohenjo-Daro, and a bus safari as well. An air safari is in the works,” he says, talking about the Sindh government’s efforts to boost provincial tourism.

However, the cost of the registration process has jumped from Rs400,000 to Rs900,000, in addition to the Rs50,000 renewable fee. Being a registered entity prevents reputational damage caused by others’ scams. “If we are giving a trip for 35,000, someone else is offering it for Rs15,000,” he explains. The catch becomes evident only later. “People reach Islamabad and their tour operator doesn’t show up… most of them are unregistered, and hence the culprits cannot be held accountable.” The absence of a verification mechanism has been costly for domestic tourists. This is where the association steps in as a trust intermediary.

The collective structure also introduces enforcement power. “If one member is scammed by a hotelier, all 72 companies can boycott them.” In a market where Karachi drives a majority of demand, that leverage matters.

There are also commercial efficiencies. Through collective bargaining, the association has standardised access to inventory. “We have taken exclusive discounted rates from hotels,” says Mr Usama. “Now, even if you registered your company yesterday, you get the same rate as someone with 10 years of experience.” In effect, the association is flattening information asymmetry and lowering entry barriers for smaller operators.

At the demand side, domestic tourism continues to be the industry’s backbone, especially in the post-Covid world. “When international travel was restricted, domestic tourism increased a lot,” he recalls. “Even today, that effect remains, especially given the current macroeconomic conditions.”

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2026