Govt urged to give status of industry to tourism

Islamabad: Coordinator of Naran Cultural Festival 2017 Faheem Akhtar has said the government should give tourism a status of industry because now thousands of local and foreign tourists are taking keen interest in visiting scenic places due to improved law and order situation in the country.

"We are organizing a 2-day Naran Cultural Festival 2017 on August 25-26 and a large number of local and foreign tourists are expected to attend it. Prominent folk singers will perform during the festival that will also have an exhibition portraying local cultures and traditions," he said.

He pointed out that thousands of tourists have been visiting beautiful landscapes and scenic places of Murree, Naran, Kaghan, Swat and Malam Jabba as the law and order situation has shown considerable improvement in last couple of years.

It is pertinent to mention here that with less than a million foreign tourists visiting the country on an average, Pakistan has been able to improve its ranking by one point in 2017–currently at 124 out of 136 countries--covered in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index 2017 released by the World Economic Forum.

Faheem Akhtar said the travel and tourism industry continues to make a real difference to the lives of millions of people by driving growth, creating jobs, reducing poverty and fostering development and tolerance.