Minister says peace restored to KP, vows to facilitate tourists

PESHAWAR: Senior Minister for Tourism Atif Khan said on Friday that visit of foreign tourists to scenic places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was evident that peace had been restored to the province.

Talking to reporters in connection with the 9th classic cars rally here, he said that life has returned to normalcy and people were tacking active part in productive activities without any fear.

Members Provincial Assembly Iftikhar Mashwani, Tufail Anjum, Shah Muhammad, Zahir Shah Toru, Managing Director Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP) Mushtaq Ahmad Khan and others were also present.

Atif Khan said that tourism police force was being set up to ensure security to local and foreign tourists.

The TCKP was exploring new scenic resorts to promote tourism in the province, he added.

Atif Khan said that 20 new tourist resorts would be developed in the province in the next five years, adding that 10 potential places had already been identified for the purpose and would be developed accordingly.

The minister said that infrastructure in the picturesque places would be improved and other related facilities would be made available for tourists.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan was also actively working for promotion of tourism sector and for this purpose a tourism board was being set up at the national level.

He said the proposed board would provide guidance and remove hurdles in the issuance of tourism visas and solve other related problems.

Atif Khan said a thing tank and task force for promotion of tourism had already being established.

Earlier, the participants of the 9th classic cars rally reached Peshawar from Karachi. The cars in the rally would resume the travel from Balahisar Fort to reach its final destination at Bab-e-Khyber today.

As many as 30 cars from across the country, including Hummer, Ferrari, Ford Thunder Bird (1960), Austin Mini (1967) Rolls Royce Silver Wraith (1939), Ford Mustang (1964), Humber Hawk (1957), Mercedes (108s), Chevrolet Corvette (1967) Willy’s Jeep (1957) and others are part of the rally.