c


 is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism
Organization defines  as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment
for more than twenty-four (24) hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and
other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited."[1]

History of tourism

Wealthy people have always traveled to distant parts of the world, to see great buildings, works of
art, learn new languages, experience new cultures and to taste different cuisines. Long ago, at the time of
the Roman Republic, places such as Baiae were popular coastal resorts for the rich. The
word Ê
 was used by 1811 and Ê
Ê by 1840.[24]

The rise of tourism began after WWII,as due to advanced technology,transport became more available to
the world.Moreover,it was after WWII that the amount of annual holidays for workers was increased,so
people were at leisure to visit other places.Also after WWII,clonies were decolonized,giving them a
chance to grow their tourism industries.

Now let¶s have a look at the tourism in Pakistan.

Despite having a large amount of tourist attractions,Pakistan gave a separate ministry for tourism in
2004.Pakistan has always had major tourist attractions because of its diverse cultures.Moreover,Pakistan
has a lot of significant archaeological sites. Currently Pakistan has six major cultural sites that are
categorised as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These include:

  Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro of the Indus Valley Civilization.

  1st Century Buddhist Ruins at Takht-i-Bahi and Neighbouring City Remains at Sahr-i-Bahlol.
  The ruins of Taxila from the Gandhara Civilization
  The Lahore Fort and Shalimar Gardens in Lahore.
  Historic Monuments of the ancient city of Thatta.
  The ancient fort of Rohtas.
Ôike in any other country,the tourists coming to Pakistan have the same
demands.Security,comfort,stability in the country,and a good infrastructure.Unfortunately,none of
these demands are being fulfilled and so Pakistan has been unable to take full advantage of its tourist
sites.Tourists complain roads have not been built to reach the tourist sites in Kailash and other rural
areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.And with the arrival of terrorism in Pakistan͛s mots popular tourism
province,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,things have taken a serious toll. The 2008 World Economic forum¶s Travel
and Tourism Competitiveness Report (TTCR) ranked Pakistan 103 out of 124 countries to visit. This low
figure was due to a weak travel and tourism infrastructure, low branding and marketing effectiveness and
low priority the government gave to the travel and tourism industry. Despite various campaigns such as
the Visit Pakistan 2007 scheme the number of tourists dropped each year. This year it dropped by 6% as
compared to the figures of last year.[10] The lack of facilities within Pakistan cannot compete those of
international standards. With a poor tourism infrastructure the provision of standard and competitive hotel
rooms in Pakistan, the national and cultural resources being reduced, the security situation prevailing and
rising inflation are the main factors reducing tourism within Pakistan.

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July 2010 floods that made around 22 million people homeless in Pakistan also collapsed Tourism
Industry in the country that was already becoming fragile due to bad law and order situation in the
country. Swat Valley that geared up domestic tourism after a lull 2 years due to terrorism again faced total
disaster due to heavy rainfalls and floods. Around 101 hotels on the bank of Swat River flushed out in
floods because these hotels were constructed on the bank of the river against the law of nature and law
of land. Around 277 people including 6 domestic tourist lost their lives in Swat valley. Thousands of
tourists were stranded in Kalam and Bahrain areas affected by the devastating rain-triggered floods.
There was no electricity in the entire district for 14 days and no road network left to evacuate tourists
therefore Pakistan Army provided helicopters to airlift them to Islamabad. . All business activities and
factories are lying closed in Swat.
The floods that have caused massive devastation across the country struck at a time when tourism was in
full swing, especially in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan. Damages inflicted on tourism
infrastructure in these areas are estimated to run in billions. Apart from claiming so many human lives, the
floods took serious toll on hotels, motels, bridges, roads, houses. Before the Global economic crisis
Pakistan received more than 500,000 tourists annually.[4]. However, this number has now come down to
near zero figures since 2008 due to instability in the country and many countries declaring Pakistan as
unsafe and dangerous to visit.

Now we tell about the measures taken by the government of Pakistan and various organizations to revive
tourism in Pakistan.In 2007,the prime minister started a ³Visit Pakistan´ campaign. This campaign
involved various events throughout the year including fairs and religious festivals, regional sporting
events, various arts and craft shows, folk festivals and several openings of historical museums.This
campaign was a failure,as the number of tourists kept declining.

Gilgit-Baltistan, a town with beautiful scenery and a hot tourist spot,was separated from Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwa which is ridden with terrorism to make the tourism there attractive.Though there was a
sharp rise in domestic tourism in the region,it dropped after the floods.

In October 2006, just one year after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, ›

 released what it
[5]
described as "The top five tourist sites in Pakistan" in order to help the country's tourism industry. The
five sites included Taxila, Lahore, The Karakoram Highway, Karimabad and Lake Saiful Muluk.

The topmost step Pakistan needs to take to revive tourism is to compensate the destruction caused by
the floods to the tourism industry.The previous hotels,resorts and roads should be built as well as new
ones.The second-most important step will be to eliminate terrorism.Only in a stable country with a good
law-and-order situation will tourists be attracted to.Pakistan also needs to promote its tourism industry
abroad through documentaries and pamphlets.