Stakeholders evince keen interest in refurbished Galiyat rest houses

PESHAWAR: The stakeholders and public have evinced a keen interest in the 15 refurbished resthouses in Galiyat region to get them on market rental rates, as they are going to become operational in the current week.
“We have a long list of aspirants who are eager to get the resthouses on rent as they are being opened to public this week,” said Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, Managing Director of the Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP).
Following a landmark decision, he said the KP government transferred 15 resthouses in Galiyat to the Tourism Department. He said that would boost tourism and facilitate tourists and ordinary citizens to enjoy stay in rest houses of their choice.
The resthouses, he said, were earlier in shambles but the TCKP renovated them. He said that a comprehensive operational plan had been prepared, under which the resthouses could be booked by anybody on market rental rates.
“We have devised a booking guideline, details of which will be available soon on the TCKP website (www.kptourism.com). Besides the booking policy, the operational plan covers categorisation of rest houses based on their quality, room rental or full rest house reservation, and booking facility for government servants during their official duty and private visits,” he said.
The MD said that previously these resthouses were only accessible to the employees of those departments and not to the general public, who were facing immense problems of accommodation and were being exploited by the private hotels due to overcharging, especially in the peak seasons.
The provincial government has recently transferred 15 resthouses in Galiyat to the TCKP, including Retreat House, Karnak House in Nathiagali, Inspection Bungalow Chand View - Murree Hills and TCKP Resthouse Thandiyani, Additional Cottage Nathiagali, Vendia House Nathiagali, Pines Rest House Nathiagali, Forest Cottage Nathiagali, Forest Rest House Dongagali, Forest Rest House Barian, European Cottage 29 and 30 Nathiagali and Raeeskhana Nathiagali to boost tourism.
TCKP General Manager Administration and Properties Sajjad Hameed said the resthouses were being opened to the public on market rental rates this week.He said maximum booking period will be seven days to give an opportunity to maximum number of public. Previously, he said, the rest houses used to be booked for long duration by certain people only.These resthouses will be in turn leased out to the private sector under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Programme.