PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minister for Tourism and Culture Mohammad Atif Khan has described the participation of foreign tourists in the vintage car rally as an ample proof of restoration of peace in the region and claimed that his government was determined to explore 20 new tourist sites and develop infrastructure in the province during the next five years.

He was talking to mediapersons during his visit to the 9th vintage car show at the Peshawar Services Club on Friday.

MPAs Shah Mohammad, Iftikhar Mashwani, Tufail Anjum, KP Tourism Corporation managing director Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, general manager Mohammad Ali Syed, members of classic cars club, including Dr Aamir Bilal and Asim Durrani, were also present on the occasion.

Vintage car show held in Peshawar

The senior minister said that the federal government was working for development of tourism and for this purpose a tourism board would be established to facilitate the foreign visitors and resolve their issues pertaining to visa and security. He said that tourism police plan was also on the government’s priority list to ensure security of the tourists. He said that a taskforce and think-tank would also be established to pay attention to development of tourism in the province.

According to Dr Bilal, the rally started from the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and after passing through various cities, including Sukkur, Bahawalpur, Lahore and Islamabad, reached Peshawar on Wednesday.

He said that the car rally would move from Peshawar club to Khyber Pass on Saturday (today) to conclude its journey. He said that the aim of the rally was to project the soft image of Pakistan. The participants, he said, also included women as well as foreigners from US, Germany and Dubai who had come specifically for this rally.

Mohammad Ali Syed said that another event of the vintage cars would be arranged by the KPTC in Peshawar on Dec 9 in an attempt to project soft image of the province. He said that participation of foreigners, especially women, in the rally was a good sign and a message to all that peace had returned to KP and tourists could come here without any fear.

He said that the aim of the car rally was to portray soft image of the tribal districts also and for this the rally would move for Khyber Pass to help encourage tourists to visit the historical places along the Pak-Afghan border.

The participants also looked excited as many of them said that they had come to Peshawar for the first time after restoration of peace in the region. A woman said that she was eager to visit the Khyber Pass as it would be a new experience for her. She said that several other women also participated in the rally.

Besides, a large number of people visited the vintage car show and termed it a good attempt to present a soft image of the region and attract tourists to boost local economy.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2018