Advisor to the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tourism and Culture Zahid Chanzeb has said in the budget of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, several new schemes have been approved for the development of tourism in Chitral and sufficient funds have been allocated for the purpose.
In addition to celebrating the traditional Kalash and Shandur Polo festivals in a more organized manner, new projects have been added so that tourists can enjoy visiting Chitral round the year. The new schemes included the government-level organization of Jashan-e-Tirich Mir and a scheme to provide easy loans to residents of Chitral to construct additional rooms with all amenities adjacent to their homes to accommodate foreign tourists as paying guests.
He was addressing a meeting with various delegations from Chitral who thanked the Advisor Tourism and provincial government for allocating new schemes and additional funds for the tourism sector in Chitral. They assured that the tourists in Chitral will go back to their countries with pleasant memories of the locals’ hospitality and create a good soft image of the area.
The experience of visiting foreign tourists in rented rooms of houses has proved to be quite successful in Gilgit-Baltistan, which not only resulted in increasing the number of tourists, but also the income of the local people enhanced considerably. ZahidChanzeb reciprocated that a new scheme called Families Based Accommodation for the Foreign Tourists is included amongst the 18 new schemes for which Rs 437.008 million have been allocated in the new budget while their total expenditures have been estimated to be Rs 3779.007 million.
He said that Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and he himself are fully confident that the amount spent on such schemes will generate many times more income, while the economic condition of the local people will also improve in addition to the increase in the arrival of foreign tourists that, he said, would also tantamount to enhancing opportunities for decent employment for the locals and our educated youth will not have to travel to other cities or countries for jobs and bear hardships there.
He said that the experience of staying foreign guests in extra rooms of houses is also successfully continued in Gilgit, which helps foreign tourists and guests to be acquainted and understand the lifestyle and customs of the local people leading to increasing their interest and curiosity The arrival of foreign tourists also increases continuously owing to such type of hospitality by the locals, he added.
The Advisor Tourism further revealed that in the future Tirich Mir festival will be celebrated in Chitral every year under the patronage of the KP government wherein traditional dances, photo exhibitions, archery.
