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Pakistan declared the best holiday destination for 2020 by Condé Nast Traveller

With 100pc booking, Pakistan’s tourism industry growing says govt

Amid the end of lockdown measures, Pakistan’s much talked about tourism sector is reviving after 100 percent booking at tourist destinations, said Information Minister Shibli Faraz on Monday.

“Pakistan has become an attractive destination for tourists from all over the world. 100 percent booking at tourist destinations is proof that the tourism industry in Pakistan is gradually growing,” said Faraz in a tweet post.

The minister was of the view that the development is a clear demonstration of economic activity and the restoration of public confidence. “[However] the people must implement SOPs,” he added.

By 2025, the government predicts tourism will contribute Rs1 trillion to the Pakistani economy, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Pakistan closed all the tourist spots in March this year to prevent spread of the virus, but officials said this had hit millions of people hard in the KP and GB - two main hubs for domestic and international tourism.

https://www.brecorder.com/news/4001...-pakistans-tourism-industry-growing-says-govt
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pakistan is amongst the top destinations with low cost tourism.<br>British Backpackers Society has declared Pakistan as the world’s third highest potential adventure destination for the 2020. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldTourismDay2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldTourismDay2020</a> <a href="https://t.co/YVqRfwaaJl">pic.twitter.com/YVqRfwaaJl</a></p>— Govt of Pakistan (@pid_gov) <a href="https://twitter.com/pid_gov/status/1310215492909625344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pakistan is amongst the top destinations with low cost tourism.<br>British Backpackers Society has declared Pakistan as the world’s third highest potential adventure destination for the 2020. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldTourismDay2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldTourismDay2020</a> <a href="https://t.co/YVqRfwaaJl">pic.twitter.com/YVqRfwaaJl</a></p>— Govt of Pakistan (@pid_gov) <a href="https://twitter.com/pid_gov/status/1310215492909625344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It's a shame it's a year in which travel has been restricted.

I'm guessing a lot of the popularity for Pakistan recently has come from the large increase in Youtube VLogs.
 
'52 places to love in 2021': Lahore listed in NY Times’ top picks to visit this year

American publication, The New York Times recently shared its list of 52 places to love in 2021 and our beloved Lahore made it to the list.

"We asked readers to tell us about the spots that have delighted, inspired, and comforted them in a dark year. Here, 52 of the more than 2,000 suggestions we received, to remind us that the world still awaits," read the publication as it shed light on the motive behind the news piece after a testing 2020.

With 51 other travel destinations, including Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, Kaliya Dhrow in neighbouring India, Siwa Oasis in Egypt, Punjab's capital city Lahore was included in the list where the author Haneen Iqbal expressed her love for the city that is celebrated for its rich culture and lively atmosphere.

Read more: Italian artist talks about Pakistan visit, says 'hopeful of country's new phase'

Iqbal is a 29-year-old freelance writer in Toronto, Canada.

"I was 18, and I hadn’t been back to Lahore for 12 years. It was winter. At the open-air Liberty Market, my mother and I wandered the stalls as cloth vendors unfurled bright bolts of fabric, beckoning us to come to look. At dusk, with pashmina shawls wrapped around our shoulders, we devoured a bowl of spicy chicken karahi, using piping hot khamiri roti bread to wipe the bowl clean. The food practically sang as it made its way into our mouths," Iqbal wrote.

"Pakistan has a bad reputation and is often overlooked by travelers who come to South Asia. But Lahoris are some of the kindest, most hospitable people," wrote Iqbal, sharing that she loves to watch the Punjab locals feasting on terraces of restaurants overlooking the grand Badshahi Mosque.

"They are just regular people living their regular lives, and they are so alive in the present, while always connected to their past," the author described.

The article was later retweeted by Prime Minister Imran Khan's Special Assistant for Tourism Zulfi Bukhari, saying that "Lahore’s rich culture, warmth, hospitality & the most amazing food in the world awaits travelers."

"A must-have on everyone’s list!" he added.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/329341-lahore-makes-to-new-york-times-52-places-to-love-in-2021
 
'52 places to love in 2021': Lahore listed in NY Times’ top picks to visit this year

American publication, The New York Times recently shared its list of 52 places to love in 2021 and our beloved Lahore made it to the list.

"We asked readers to tell us about the spots that have delighted, inspired, and comforted them in a dark year. Here, 52 of the more than 2,000 suggestions we received, to remind us that the world still awaits," read the publication as it shed light on the motive behind the news piece after a testing 2020.

With 51 other travel destinations, including Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, Kaliya Dhrow in neighbouring India, Siwa Oasis in Egypt, Punjab's capital city Lahore was included in the list where the author Haneen Iqbal expressed her love for the city that is celebrated for its rich culture and lively atmosphere.

Read more: Italian artist talks about Pakistan visit, says 'hopeful of country's new phase'

Iqbal is a 29-year-old freelance writer in Toronto, Canada.

"I was 18, and I hadn’t been back to Lahore for 12 years. It was winter. At the open-air Liberty Market, my mother and I wandered the stalls as cloth vendors unfurled bright bolts of fabric, beckoning us to come to look. At dusk, with pashmina shawls wrapped around our shoulders, we devoured a bowl of spicy chicken karahi, using piping hot khamiri roti bread to wipe the bowl clean. The food practically sang as it made its way into our mouths," Iqbal wrote.

"Pakistan has a bad reputation and is often overlooked by travelers who come to South Asia. But Lahoris are some of the kindest, most hospitable people," wrote Iqbal, sharing that she loves to watch the Punjab locals feasting on terraces of restaurants overlooking the grand Badshahi Mosque.

"They are just regular people living their regular lives, and they are so alive in the present, while always connected to their past," the author described.

The article was later retweeted by Prime Minister Imran Khan's Special Assistant for Tourism Zulfi Bukhari, saying that "Lahore’s rich culture, warmth, hospitality & the most amazing food in the world awaits travelers."

"A must-have on everyone’s list!" he added.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/329341-lahore-makes-to-new-york-times-52-places-to-love-in-2021

An expat Canadian punjaban (most likely a lahoran) wrote this. Of course she will write lahore Lahore ay
 
Tourism and economic development is not possible when the whole country is held hostage by the right wing. What makes everything worse is that unlike other places, the right wing forms the majority.

Any potential tourists and investors would have been put off by the despicable violence that our country witnessed. Till we reign in extremism - which is impossible - we will never become a tourism spot. All these lovey dovey rankings and adulation of Pakistan and its people mean nothing when there are miscreants and extremists running amok in the country.
 
Generally speaking, alcohol is an intrinsic part of a vacation experience for a large majority of Western tourists. Is alcohol available freely to Western tourists, or can they only get it in a few restricted places (like 5-star hotels)?
 
Generally speaking, alcohol is an intrinsic part of a vacation experience for a large majority of Western tourists. Is alcohol available freely to Western tourists, or can they only get it in a few restricted places (like 5-star hotels)?

Not freely available. You have to get it either from either a hotel or a specialized shop, or black market. For example you wont be able to get booze while visiting a tourist area like Lahore Fort.
 
https://www.dawn.com/news/1639885/pakistan-has-great-potential-for-attracting-tourists-from-muslim-countries-pm-imran

Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday that Pakistan has "great potential" to attract tourists from Muslim countries because they were wary of visiting Europe and other places due to concerns related to Islamophobia.

He made the comment while addressing local residents and people who were part of the government's tree plantation campaign at Sonmiani beach in Balochistan's Lasbela district.

At the outset of his speech, the prime minister said he had seen the area from above during his arrival by helicopter, adding that it could be developed into a tourist spot.

Prime Minister Imran said the government's efforts should be geared towards improving the lives of the people, to ensure livelihoods for them, education for their children, and health facilities. "It is the foremost responsibility of the government [to see] how we can make the people's lives better and to first fulfil their basic needs and then [check] how to make them happy."

Talking about Lasbela, the premier said that an industrial estate could not be established in the area but a "splendid tourist resort" could be built instead. He clarified, however, that it would not be the kind of tourist resort where "people come and then [go against] our culture and tradition and religion."

Instead, the government would build the kind of resort that would attract a "large number of people from the Muslim world", he added.

The premier said that there were "many" places in the world that "our people" used to go to spend their holidays, including Europe, but they "face great problems now because of Islamophobia".

"They don't want to take their wives and children there. So, a place like Pakistan has great potential where people from Muslim countries will come for tourism."

He added that the federal government would chalk out a plan with Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani to bring consultants to the area and decide how to utilise it in the best way for tourism.

"Tourism has become a science. Some areas have been destroyed because [of lack of proper planning]. So much construction has been done in Murree. The Murree I knew from childhood has completely changed because we did not develop other mountainous areas," he said.

The PTI government is developing new mountainous areas for tourism for the first time, he added.

Prime Minister Imran also cited the mangrove forests along the Somniani sea coast as the reason for his visit. Talking about the United Nations panel's report on climate change, which was released a day earlier, he said, "We are very fortunate because we are one of the countries who are far ahead in protecting [ourselves] from climate change."

He noted that there were fires in several countries including Greece, Turkey and the United States while there were unprecedented floods in other parts of the world. "All this is due to climate change," he said.

The mangrove forests were the "best" to deal with climate change because they produced the most oxygen and absorbed the most carbon dioxide, he added.

Prime Minister Imran pointed out that Balochistan lagged behind other provinces because previous governments did not pay it the attention it deserved. In an apparent reference to former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, he said, "we have rulers who have gone to London's Harrods more than they have been to Balochistan in a year."

He added that the PTI government had decided to "bring Balochistan forward" and the kind of money being spent on the province — Rs1 trillion — has "never been spent before". The government was doing so because "we believe when Balochistan develops, Pakistan develops," he said.

"God has given Balochistan minerals and blessings; we are working on a plan to develop that. This is a big area and more money is needed to develop it. When natural resources are developed, the money will also be spent on your big areas and they will be developed," he concluded.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The ancient ruins of a Buddhist temple in Takhtbhai, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa --- part of Pakistan's rich Gandhara heritage. <a href="https://t.co/J23ZZS9Htf">pic.twitter.com/J23ZZS9Htf</a></p>— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1442175927329427456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The only thing I miss these days is hiking in our northern mountains with my sons.<br><br>Allah has blessed Pakistan with the best mountain trekking in the world. Inshallah one day we will make Pakistan the skiing capital of the world. <a href="https://t.co/e7PzHcy37L">pic.twitter.com/e7PzHcy37L</a></p>— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1662066008302010371?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
I used to enjoy watching westerners visit Pakistan, their vlogs were brilliant and showcasing the amazing food, culture and nature of the land.

Almost all have left and nobody is willing to travel.

I myself was planning to visit Hunza this summer but Ill be going to North Africa instead now. I'd rather not spend a rupee in Pakistan atm.
 
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