CM for extensive plan to boost tourism in KP

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Wednesday directed the relevant quarters to come up with a comprehensive plan to promote tourism as an industry in the province.

“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a province gifted with diverse cultural heritage, enormous beauty and stunning landscapes, which needs to be utilized effectively by developing tourist-friendly infrastructure, extending facilities and attracting local and foreign investment,” he said while chairing a meeting here.

Advisor to Chief Minister on Tourism Zahid Chanzeb, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Amjad Ali Khan and other relevant officials attended the meeting.

CM Gandapur said that development of the tourism sector along modern lines would not only generate employment opportunities for locals but would ultimately contribute to the provincial economy.

The participants were briefed about the administrative affairs of the department, development projects, future planning and integrated tourism zones being established in Malakand and Hazara divisions.

The chief minister said that they needed more concerted and result-oriented efforts towards preserving the natural beauty of KP and promoting responsible tourism as well.He also directed the officials to set up alternate bazaars in the congested tourist spots of the province and ensure car parking facilities as a compulsory component of planning for new tourist sites.

He stressed the need for providing recreational facilities, clean drinking water and sustainable sewerage system at tourist spots, besides rest areas and mosques at some distance on the roads towards tourist destinations. Similarly, the chief minister has directed to devise a plan for effective and judicious use of properties owned by the tourism department and said that all such properties can be utilized not only for facilitating tourists but contributing to the provincial income.

He directed them to carry out classification of lease policy for government’s tourist sites so as to provide investment opportunities to both the small and large scale investors.“Local people should be preferred for investment in the relevant tourist sites, “he said and added that development of the tourism sector was one of the priority areas of his government.

He also directed the quarters concerned to speed up work on Integrated Tourism Zones projects in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Swat and Chitral to attract foreign investment.He directed for installation of more camping pods of international standard at tourist spots in the province and to increase the number of private members in the boards of semi-government entities administered by the tourism department.He added that the professionals should be included in the boards. Necessary amendments in the relevant legal framework be proposed for this purpose.