Northern area of Pakistan has been one of the major tourist attractions, until October, 2005. Kaghan and Neelum Valleys are one of the most popular tourist spots in North Pakistan. On normal days, huge number of tourists used to come here. Hotels, motels and resorts hired extra people for work. There were horsemen, and jeep drivers who used to entertain tourists. Tourism was a big source of income for these people but now there is nothing. Due to the bad condition of the roads and the horrifying earthquake scenes aired on television people have become very nervous.
I really feel bad for these poor people because it would take a long time for everything to become normal again. Pakistani’s are not the only victims of such natural catastrophe. The Tsunami of 2004 also devastated the tourism sector, the major foreign currency earning sector of Maldives. At this time, I think the Pakistani government has taken a very effective measure to restore the normal flow of the lives of those related to the tourism sector. The Pakistan Government Taskforce has granted aids and soft loans for these people. Let us hope and pray that these people can get back to their normal lives as soon as possible.
Some other factors (like image of the country, though wronly) also contribute to this.
Posted by: Shirazi | July 5, 2006 12:02 AM | Permalink to Comment