International conference on sports tourism in Pakistan in September

KARACHI: To promote sports tourism in Pakistan, particularly in Gilgit-Baltistan, an international conference will be held at Karakoram International University (KIU) from September 23-25. Sports tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry.

The conference aims to bring together leading academics to exchange their experiences and research results on all aspects of hospitality, leisure, sports and tourism.

The conference includes technical sessions and a visit to Hunza to watch cultural events including a polo match.

Sources said that international and national speakers have been invited to discuss and deliberate on the following themes: mountain sports, adventure sports and tourism, hard and soft sports tourism, sports tourism league, anti-doping laws, sports tourism development, impact sports tourism, health, environment, economics, technology innovations in sports tourism, and sports events management.

Sources said that the convener of the international conference on sports tourism would be the vice chancellor of Karakoram International University (KIU) Gilgit-Baltistan Prof Dr Ataullah Shah.

The associate dean faculty of science of KIU, Dr Tasawwar Baig, would be the secretary of the conference. Sources said that the speakers in the conference are likely to come from the US, Germany, Malaysia, European Union and some other countries.

The northern areas are considered ideal for promoting sports tourism as they have the world’s highest and mountainous areas. Unfortunately, mountaineering sports have been neglected for a long time due to laziness of the authorities. Pakistan is home to five peaks above 8000 meters and more than 100 peaks above 7000 meters. Owing to these spectacular peaks Pakistan can be truly called as the mountains capital of the world. Pakistan produced a number of world famous mountaineers including, Muhammad Ali Saddpara, Nissar Hussain Saddpara and Samina Khayal Baig. Polo is one of the most famous and colorful sports in this region. One of the best polo grounds in the world is in Gilgit where the Shandur Polo Festival has been organised since 1936. People from all around the world come to watch the matches. The version of polo played here is considered to be the purest of all — called freestyle Polo.

During the winter season, this region is ideal for skating events. During the winter season, skating lovers came here from all over Pakistan. Ice hockey events can also be organised in this region which would attract a number of ice hockey-playing countries.