SWAT: Famous as one of the top tourist destinations in the country, Swat has not received visitors even on World Tourism Day as recent floods have wreaked havoc with its roads and other infrastructure.

Usually millions of people visit Swat every year to enjoy both summer and winter seasons. But this year tourists did not visit Swat on World Tourism Day as floods caused washed away hotels, bridges and roads cutting off the major scenic resorts from the rest of the country.

The reappearance of terrorists in Kabal and Matta tehsils of the district also affected the tourism sector in Swat.

According to Deputy Commissioner Junaid Khan, about three million tourists visited Swat in the year 2021, making it one of the country’s top tourist destinations.

Reappearance of militants in the district also triggers fear among people

All Swat Hotel Association president Haji Zahid Khan said that every year a huge number of tourists visited Swat, bringing billions of rupees to the district and employing thousands of people in the sector. “This year, initially a wave of terrorism and then by the devastating floods in the last September completely affected the tourism sector,” he added.

He said that there were about 1,500 hotels and restaurants in the scenic Swat, providing jobs to about 25,000 people directly and more than 30,000 indirectly. He added that the terrorist activities and floods badly affected tourism in Swat.

Haji Zahid said that nearly all the people associated with the tourism sector were currently jobless. He said after construction of motorway and restoration of peace in Swat, tourists used to visit the district 12 months of the year.

Hotel owners said that the number of tourists in Swat used to increase every year. “Last year, I earned more than Rs10 million as a large number of tourists visited Swat and my hotel lodged them throughout the year, both in summer and winter seasons,” said Akbar Ali, a hotel owner in Bahrain.

The hotel owners said that Swat was mainly known for summer tourism, but over the past 10 years, winter tourism flourished and thousands of tourists visited the area to enjoy snowfall and winter sports.

“We expect that government will take decisive action against the extremist elements and restore the roads and bridges washed away by the floods so that the tourism sector can be revived once again,” said Rahmat Ali, a hotel owner in Kalam.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2022