Tourism is a multicultural industry which constituents a big sum in the economy in-terms of creating employment opportunities, contributing in National Income and portraying better image of a country. And, despite consisting such gorgeous attractions and wonders of the Earth, Pakistan lacks in tourism industry due to lack of branding and lack of strategic planning, and of course some other determinants are involved too. 

In 2010, Lonely Planet, one of the biggest travel guide book publishers in the world termed Pakistan as ‘tourism’s next big thing’. But due to numerous reasons, being inbound terrorism he most prominent factor, the tourism in Pakistan did not enhance the way it was anticipated. 

Although, a country which is blessed with beautiful Fairy Meadows at Giglit, bewitching Jheel Saif ul Malook, and prepossessing ruins at Moenjo Daro and Harappa having the attention of the world archeologists, you can never count Pakistan out of the tourism industry. 

However, with the settling serenity in the recent times, Pakistan has vastly got the attention of the sightseers as compared to the number of tourists in past couple of years. In 2016, it was reported that Pakistan was visited by 965, 498 tourist visitors. Whereas in 2017, approximately 1,750,000 people visited Pakistan which makes the ratio almost double. This indicates that with the correct planning and strategies of the administration and accountable authorities, Pakistan can become the nucleus of the attention. 

SYED SHAYAN AHMED,  

Karachi, March 31.