THE COST OF CLOSING TOURISM IN PAKISTAN DURING COVID-19

ENCOURAGING NEWS FOR TOURISM INDUSTRY IN PAKISTAN ESPECIALLY FOR GILGIT-BALTISTAN IN THE PANDEMIC CRISES

Seeing in the Dawn News on 12^th July 2020, about the tourism reopening and the situation in the bustling touristic parts Gilgit-Baltistan without people, is surprising during the pandemic which hit the tourism industry not only in Pakistan but in the whole world is unbelievable. It is unfortunate for Pakistan because it was declared the top tourism destination in the world for the year 2020 in the whole world. For Gilgit-Baltistan it is more unfortunate because it has a very short season of tourism and 70% tourism in Pakistan is in Gilgit-Baltistan, right at the beginning of tourist season the pandemic broke out. It forced to cancel the people of their trips and some delayed wishing for possibilities of visiting later on, but unfortunately, this almost going to be the end of the tourist season still there are no possibilities for the tourist visit to their planned areas in Pakistan. Most countries in the world have opened tourism properly with clear guidance for the safety and security of travelers and locals. But Pakistan has been one of the misfortune countries nothing has been done for the reopening of tourism properly. Every week we get different notifications of opening and then ban nothing understanding.

How does the Dawn Report On the Situation?

As the country reels under a pandemic, tourism in GB has been hit particularly hard. The prime minister announced the reopening of tourism, hoping it will provide some relief. But was the solution too simplistic in its haste?

It’s rare to see Karimabad so quiet this time of year. In a video posted by popular Instagram account @IncredibleHunza, the cameraperson walks through the uncharacteristically still streets of one of Hunza’s most visited neighborhoods. To see a popular tourist destination without swathes of people during peak tourism season is the dream. But this is no dream scenario.

Soon one notices the closed shops. The guesthouses without the guests. And clothes hanging idly with no customers at the usually bustling market.

Karimabad looks like a ghost town.

The caption on Instagram, video carries the hashtags #visitPakistan and #travelPakistan. But as Covid-19 disrupts tourism around the world, one wonders when #travelling will even be possible again.

As I replay the 32-second video over and over, I can’t help but remember my walks on these very streets years ago. Sitting in my bedroom in Karachi, working on a piece about Covid-19’s impact on tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), the sound of local Hunzai music plays in my head. I am reminded of how one could hear music from across the valley as if it were being played right in front of one — something to do with the acoustics of the mountains.

I am reminded of tourists losing their breath climbing up the incline on the main streets. And local grandmothers, with babies strapped to their backs with a sling fashioned from a dupatta, doing the same climb almost effortlessly.

Younger people would converge at Cafe de Hunza, a place that guaranteed free ‘working’ internet, real coffee, and their signature walnut cake. And then you’d spot the foreigners and among them ‘old’ mountaineers, who’ve been coming here for years. These foreigners seemed more at home in GB than you and clearly knew their way around this region like the back of their hand.

“After 9/11, we survived for 18 years. Those were difficult times,” says mountaineer Nazir Sabir. At that time, most of the tourists GB catered to were foreign and only a handful were domestic ones. After 9/11 they stopped coming. Until recently.

As my experience, we had not such crises during the period of 9/11 somehow adventure tourism was running during that time where most people the lower classes in the part to adventure tourism would get jobs as porters, cooks, and guides. This pandemic brought 100% unemployment to the country was in the first two months were too hard for the lower class people there were restrictions on daily laboring and compete for lockdowns in the country that led to crucial situations. The shops were closed; transports were off nothing open during the days.

 

The first Notification for Reopening Tourism was in the Early June (As Dawn Stated)

In early June, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the reopening of the tourism industry. He pointed out that this was the peak season for tourism and added that many livelihoods are entirely dependent on travel. A continued lockdown would only contribute to these individuals’ financial woes.

He wasn’t wrong. The tourism industry, much like practically every other industry, has been hit hard by the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. But, ironically, soon after the prime minister presented the reopening of tourism as a solution, the government’s own Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) announced the closure of all its motels in the northern areas. Employees of PTDC were also let go.

“Due to continuous and irreparable financial losses [and] having no other resources [during] the current Covid-19 pandemic, the federal government, and PTDC Board of Directors unanimously resolved to close down the operations of the company,” the PTDC’s notification said.

It was encouraging at the moment but it started delayed gradually week after week now we are moving towards mid-August still we are waiting for the day properly open the tourism. Most of the tour agencies in Pakistan are dependent on international customers, but this not possible now some of the domestic travelers wish to move towards Gilgit-Baltistan, but they are not allowed and make a stop on the entry points along the way. This makes disappointments in the people of Gilgit-Baltistan especially for tourism supply chains and stakeholders. The tour operators, Transporters and hoteliers from Gilgit-Baltistan condemn it but there is none to hear it.

As most tourism-dependent nations are reconsidering their dependence on foreign tourists, Pakistan finds itself in a unique position. Over 71 percent of all tourism here is domestic. While domestic tourism has been rising slowly since 2010, in the past four to five years, there has been an unprecedented boom. This is in part due to the fact that it’s very difficult for most Pakistanis to travel abroad — even for those who can afford it, visa application processes can be very discouraging.

 

 

About the analysis of Dawn about the tourism support to Locals is as follow    

Travel pages on social media have also helped the trend. The Karakoram Club (TKC), has over 332,000 members who share photos and anecdotes from their travels. Platforms such as @TravelBeautifulPakistan (TBP) and @IncredibleHunza have 211,000 and 173,000 followers on Instagram respectively. All they do is post photos of stunning vistas around the country — especially GB and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — whetting the appetite of a whole new generation of connected and moneyed aspiring adventurers.

Stuck at home for months in lockdown, many are now looking at those photos, planning their dream vacations. It’s only a matter of time before they start making their way to the north, especially come holiday season.

In fact, some already have, despite the lockdowns. “We drove all the way from Karachi to Nathiagali during Eidul Fitr break,” says Moin Ijaz, a Karachi-based businessman. “Lockdowns were lifted and we decided to take advantage of that,” he says. “How long can you stay cooped up in one place? We were careful — six people in two cars. We rented a house because every other guesthouse was completely booked that weekend. People need to get out.”

With a fancy newly-paved highway cutting the journey from Karachi to Islamabad from 25 hours to 16 hours, and having made that trip already, he’s now confident about going further. His group is aiming for the northern areas next if restrictions are lifted. And he is not the only one.

Tourism has proven to be very resilient in previous crises and has often shown a very fast recovery. According to data by the United Nations World Travel Organisation (UNWTO), when it came to previous global crises, tourism bounced back by 4 percent in the sixth month after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, by 2 percent in the fifth month after the SARS the outbreak in 2003 and by 4 percent in the tenth month after the global economic crisis of 2009. The UNWTO expects global tourism to increase by the end of this year.

Last year, 2 million domestic tourists visited GB, but there’s a chance that, with lockdowns lifting and continuing heavy restrictions on international travel for Pakistanis, this number could increase dramatically.

While some may think of this as good news, local operators such as Sabir and Ali also fear an uncontrolled boom. They believe that it will contribute to the degradation of popular sites in GB.

So, if we look into this survey we had great losses in the economy this year and it will take years and years to recover again. As years took to restart of international tourism since the 9/11 tragedy in the United States, Pakistan impacted more than the loss in the world trade Center because of it. Misconception spread all over the world about Pakistan. All western countries restricted their citizens to visit Pakistan. The coronavirus pandemic led to worst conditions than 9/11.

Our government needs to take positive steps looking to the situation like the other parts of the world.