PESHAWAR, June 7: Suicide bombings and growing militancy in the North West Frontier Province have hit the tourism sector hard despite the region’s potential to attract both local and foreign tourists.

Bomb blasts and suicide attacks during the past few months in Peshawar, Charsadda, Dargai (Malakand), Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Bannu and Hangu districts have diminished the tourism potential of comparatively peaceful and scenic places like Swat and Hazara.

The year 2007 is being observed as ‘Destination Pakistan Year’ to promote a ‘soft image’ of Pakistan.

Constant news of bomb blasts discouraged foreign tourists from visiting tourist resorts in the Frontier province, said an official of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), who did not want to be named.

“It is becoming very difficult to attract foreign tourists,” he said. He claimed that most of the tourists now visited the Northern Areas, which were still peaceful.

“The government provides special security arrangements to tourist groups but negative image mars the chances of attracting foreign tourists,” he remarked.

In most countries, travel advisories are negative and Pakistan is considered to be a ‘dangerous’ place which is harming the tourism sector. Pakistani missions abroad should play their role in removing the ‘distorted image’, said an official.

According to the tourism ministry’s data, 898,000 foreign tourists visited Pakistan last year. The number of foreign tourists who visited cities like Peshawar, Quetta, Swat, Gilgit and Skardu was very low as compared to urban areas like Karachi, Lahore and Islam-

abad, revealed the data compiled by the economic analysis wing of the ministry.

With the start of the tourism season (June-August), the PTDC is now focusing more on domestic tourists by offering special summer vacation packages for tourist resorts like Ayubia, Bahawalpur, Kalam, Malam Jabba, Miandam and Naran, an official said.

Imran Sehrai, a tour operator in Peshawar, agreed that the fragile security situation in the province had served to lessen the number of foreign tourists visiting the area.