Number of foreign tourists arrival in Pakistan regain upward trend

[hassan zohaib]

ISLAMABAD: As many as 10476 foreign visitors were arrived in Pakistan on tourist visa to look around the popular destination of the country during the year 2017, regaining an upward momentum of tourist’s arrival.

According to an official source, around 9161 visitors arrived in the country on tourist visa in the year 2016, 6474 in 2015, 5575 in 2014 and 10560 in the year 2013. The popular destinations for tourists were Gilgit Baltistan (Deosai Rama, Hunza, Atabad Lake), Chitral Valley, Swat valley, Kaghan valley and Murree and Galliat during the period which is determined through the business volume in Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) motels in the region and number of visitors at tourists Information centers in these areas.

PTDC has taken many steps for promotion of tourism which include distribution of 58,010 tourist publications from July 2013 till February 2018, participation in five international tourism events and workshops, restoration of United Nation World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and PATA memberships and holding of UNWTO workshop in Pakistan after 11 years.


https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/3...ist-s-arrival-in-pakistan-regain-upward-trend

Good but not better..
If we want to increase tourism in our country then we have to take short term and long term steps which are:
1- eradicate terrorism
2- do away with the image of terrorist and danger country...
All other steps are secondary...

 

[BHarwana]

1- eradicate terrorism
2- do away with the image of terrorist and danger country...

Agreed but main point to understand is that all the tourist areas in Pakistan are terrorist free and millions of Pakistanis visit them every year without and terror related incidents. The tourist area are well secure in Pakistan and terrorism free.

 

[hassan zohaib]

Agreed but main point to understand is that all the tourist areas in Pakistan are terrorist free and millions of Pakistanis visit them every year without and terror related incidents. The tourist area are well secure in Pakistan and terrorism free.

You and me know this but foreigners,tourists know that? This is the thing we should propagate about..
If foreigners have perception about Pak that here bomb blasts, Pakistanis will attack them the moment they will enter Pakistan, lawlessness is the thing here etc..
From marketing perspective, no matter how much a product is beneficial if it has been associated with neagative perception then nobody is going to buy it..
So do away with this perception first,all things come after...

 

[BHarwana]

You and me know this but foreigners,tourists know that? This is the thing we should propagate about..
If foreigners have perception about Pak that here bomb blasts, Pakistanis will attack them the moment they will enter Pakistan, lawlessness is the thing here etc..
From marketing perspective, no matter how much a product is beneficial if it has been associated with neagative perception then nobody is going to buy it..
So do away with this perception first,all things come after...

Many foreigner visit Pakistan and many do solo trips in Pakistan yes there is not much awareness online but people are getting informed.

 

[hassan zohaib]

Many foreigner visit Pakistan and many do solo trips in Pakistan yes there is not much awareness online but people are getting informed.

That is good if they are being informed by themselves but for the commercialization of tourism, we need to arrange road shows, heavily advertise, need to arrange trips of celebrities, ambassadors etc then we are going to say that"yes, millions of tourists come into Pakistan every year". Otherwise you know, bad thing spreads fast than good one as saying goes"a bad name is worst than bad deed"...

 

[BHarwana]

That is good if they are being informed by themselves but for the commercialization of tourism, we need to arrange road shows, heavily advertise, need to arrange trips of celebrities, ambassadors etc then we are going to say that"yes, millions of tourists come into Pakistan every year". Otherwise you know, bad thing spreads fast than good one as saying goes"a bad name is worst than bad deed"...

Yes bad things go viral faster than good but from Muree to Skardu thing are good and there is good turn around of tourist there.

Pakistan needs more public awareness. and Publicity campaigns.

 

[hassan zohaib]

Yes bad things go viral faster than good but from Muree to Skardu thing are good and there is good turn around of tourist there.

Agreed...
Actually, they are locals not foreigners..if you are to increase foreign tourism then it must take said steps because local tourists don't contribute much in revenues and positive image as compared to foreign ones...

 

[BHarwana]

Agreed...
Actually, they are locals not foreigners..if you are to increase foreign tourism then it must take said steps because local tourists don't contribute much in revenues and positive image as compared to foreign ones...

Well there is a lot of help coming from friendly ambassador of germany and China in Pakistan.

Like Marion Pfennigs and Martin Kobler and Lijian Zhao.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1019189349957718019

https://twitter.com/x/status/1018860638012100608

https://twitter.com/x/status/1019080475938316288

 

[hassan zohaib]

Well there is a lot of help coming from friendly ambassador of germany and China in Pakistan.

Like Marion Pfennigs and Martin Kobler and Lijian Zhao.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1019189349957718019

https://twitter.com/x/status/1018860638012100608

https://twitter.com/x/status/1019080475938316288

That is what i am trying to put..we are not doing what we should have but these help coming out on their own not on pre-planned Pakistani authorities' steps and BTW,it is like a drop in an ocean...
Hope got my point..

 

[Indus Pakistan]

The potential is there but

Yes it is. I don't pull punches with my thoughts. Pakistan has some of the greatest natural, historical and cultural vistas you can imagine. Can anything on earth match Trango Towers - world recording breaking 1.5 miles vertical drop? A natural tower that touches the heavens?

Islamabad - the capital. Stunning hills in background and snow capped mountains just 30 miles drive with ski resorts etc. On the way full of historical legacy from Greeks at Taxila, to British and everything in between including Moghuls.

I won't go into the cradle of human civilization like Rehman Dheri, Harappa or Mohenjo Daro. Pakistan has everything including incredibly hospitable people


but ...

We have a terrible perception across the world. Terrible. Slightly above Somalia. If not the same. I think the only country where we have a positive perception is Turkey. Everywhere else including the Arabs who many Pakistani's worship look down on us. Even the Chinese have a negative perception - stategic alliance notwithstanding. The Chinese labour or have to make a effort to be okay with Pakistan for simple strategic reasons. Only the Turks have natural positive vibe about Pakistan that can see Pakistan without looking through the "distorting mirror".

To make matters worse our perception has gotten worse over the decades. As a anecdote what happened to me few days ago is ilustrative. If somebody asks me "who I am" I never fcuk around with "Muslim, Asian, blah, blah". I just say British of Pakistani origin proudly. I can tell you this never recieves a positive response [bar Turks] but varing degrees of muted, or outright negative but covered up. This is as good a measure of 'brand Pakistan'. The fact is it has terrible stock. Like I said if I said "Somali" that would not be much worse. Much as I despise India I know if I said "Indian" the reaction would be better.

Anyway the other day I was in the gym and the female trainer caught my eye. Always on the look for some fun I sort of worked on her. And it began to pan out nicely. I think my Argentina football shirt, blonde haired streaks rolling down tanned face and athletic toned 6 foot frame with outlines of Messi began to thaw her. I am like "you got a chance here". So I work on it. After lot smiles, small talk involving me polishng her ego by commenting on her toned body she asks "where are you from". Sudenly I am like. Oh no!

Much as I wanted to blend it I was not going to sell my pride. I replied "of Pakistani origin". I saw the bomb go off in her face. She covered it up but I could see it. Of course I have not given up and am still working on her. I know I will get there but it's going to take more work then would have been otherwise. This is not a isolated example. This is quite common although the reaction can be extreme to not so extreme but it is there. And anybody who denies this is deluding themselves.

The reason for this is Pakistan has been branded. But branded for everything bad across the world. Think of everything negative. Dump it on Pakistan. It's going to take some mighty effort and time to fix this problem.

Rest curse the PML-N Govt

AS you know I am not fan of Nawaz Sharif or PML-N but this problem is begger then any single government but relates to decades and the radar signature Pakistan has built across the world. Please read above and our perception of brand Pakistan.

I want to visit Pakistan.

Please don't bother with Karachi. Unsafe, crowded and crappy version of Mumbai, India. You might as well see the real Mccoy and go to India. I would suggest Islamabad as your base. From there you can go west, east and north. Mountains [Hunza is a good destination] history [Taxila, Sirkap], Peshawar, Lahore, forts, culture are all within 150 mile radius and with the motorway network offering easy fast transport. This is a prejudiced loaded suggestion.

1.75 million visitors visited Pakistan in 2017.

Ball oxe. Majority of them are ex-pats like me. Ever seen incoming flights at Islamabad airport from UK, USA, Europe etc. Most are full of ex-pats travelling on British, French, German, Swedish, Norweigian or American passports. Genuine tourists can be counted on you fingers in each flight. So lets not kid ourselves please.

 

[BHarwana]

@Kaptaan then there is this as well must watch.

 

[Nilgiri]

1.75 million visitors visited Pakistan in 2017.

Figure in the OP are of those visitors who enjoyed the services provided by PTDC(Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation) which recently started to offer 20% discount to foreigners at its selected hotels/motels etc.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/309042-175-million-tourists-visited-pakistan-in-2017-ptdc

PTDC has recently launched Pakistan Tourism Friends Club, in which members of the club will get exclusive 20% discount on PTDC facilities.

Thanks, yeah the number looked way too low:

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL?locations=PK

Majority of them are ex-pats like me. Ever seen incoming flights at Islamabad airport from UK, USA, Europe etc. Most are full of ex-pats travelling on British, French, German, Swedish, Norweigian or American passports. Genuine tourists can be counted on you fingers in each flight. So lets not kid ourselves please.

This is true ....but I guess we need some data collection on pakistan-side to delineate properly who is expat/pak-origin from the foreign-origin visitors.

Actually @Valar. it says these were the tourist visas issued, so maybe the 99% of visitors are indeed what kaptaan is talking about (I assume they come via some other visa since they have connections to Pakistan).

around 9161 visitors arrived in the country on tourist visa in the year 2016, 6474 in 2015, 5575 in 2014 and 10560 in the year 2013.

 

[Hu Yao]

You can visit Kashmir much cheaper than Karachi I will update you in some time. Do you have any particular area in mind you want to visit so I can guide you better or do you need a suggestion?

question one: The travel angency to pakistan is quite expensive, so I wanna go myself. Is there any local travel agencies could serve in English or Chinese language? Are they expensive?

question two: If I am driving a campervan into pakistan, is my trip safe? Are there local militia or warlord ask for money?

 

[BHarwana]

question one: The travel angency to pakistan is quite expensive, so I wanna go myself. Is there any local travel agencies could serve in English or Chinese language? Are they expensive?

@Hu Yao if you want to use a travel agency please use this one PTDC http://www.tourism.gov.pk/

PTDC is not expensive and they are average cost wise. They gave good economical packages to visit good places in the country. work force with this agency is good and they try to make your stay comfortable as it is govt agency and they also want to make a good image of the country. If you are traveling alone then use the this traveling agency. Because they have other tourists and travel is always fun with company of few other tourists.

If you need more travel agencies just quote me and I will give their info as well.

You can also arrange your trip without using any travel agency. this is what I prefer because with travel agencies you become restricted in their planned tour and miss many nearby good areas. This part has to has to be explained in detail on how to do it.

question two: If I am driving a campervan into pakistan, is my trip safe? Are there local militia or warlord ask for money?

Driving a camper van is a good idea and it is more fun if you are use to camper style travel. Yes Pakistan is safe to travel for camper vans. I will be honest there are few no go areas which are very few If you want to know in detail I can name them for you which you must avoid.

Camper van gives you a range of places to visit and experience more of Pakistan.

If you plan to travel in summers then staying in north area is better because summers are hot in south Pakistan and much of summer beautiful places are in north. if you can handle hot weather than south is also good. there is more party in south Pakistan than there is north areas. My definition of North Pakistan is above the city of Islamabad below that Islamabad I consider is all south Pakistan. If you plan to travel in winter then north will be snow which is in itself a good attraction and south is also very beautiful in winters.

Shall I make a detailed thread on camper van travel from north to south Pakistan with places to visit and areas to enjoy? If you want I will do it in detail for you. there are many other who will add to info where I lack. A discussion on the topic will help you more?

 

[Sugarcane]

question two: If I am driving a campervan into pakistan, is my trip safe? Are there local militia or warlord ask for money?

Probability that you will fall in ditch and die while driving in Northern Pakistan is million time more than someone harming you.