PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Tuesday said his government was in the process of completing formalities to float tenders for the establishment of four integrated tourism zones in the province as part of plans to turn tourism into an industry and create employment opportunities.
“An investors’ conference will be held in Karachi this month to be followed by road shows in Lahore and Islamabad to attract investment in the tourism sector,” the chief minister told a meeting, which reviewed progress on the projects of the tourism department here, according to an official statement.
The meeting was given a detailed briefing regarding the ongoing reforms in the tourism department, development projects in the tourism sector, and progress on the decisions made in the last meeting.
Officials told participants that a feasibility study had been finalised for the development of the Boyun Ski Resorts and Hund Park on the basis of public-private partnership, while the master plan for the Hund Park was also ready.
They said that 329 informational signboards had been installed for tourists at various points in the province.
The officials said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had obtained the first position in the Lok Virsa Festival held in Islamabad recently.
The chief minister told participants that the provincial government was working on the promotion of the tourism sector in line with the vision of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan with the aim of creating employment opportunities for the people at local level and strengthening the local economy.
He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had tremendous tourism potential, which could be used to address the issue of unemployment effectively.
The chief minister said that his government was working for the improvement of facilities in tourist places as well as the development of tourist spots to attract locals and foreigners.
“We have initiated a number of projects for the construction of approach roads to tourist destinations,” he said.
Mr Mahmood said that besides the provision of facilities to tourists, the tourism police had also been put in place for the security of visitors from within the country and abroad.
Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2022