Rs437m approved for tourism promotion in Chitral

PESHAWAR: Celebration of Terichmir festival at the official level and several schemes to promote tourism in Chitral have been included in the forthcoming budget of the province.

Moreover, the traditional Kalash and Shandur polo festivals will be celebrated in a more organized manner. New projects have been added so that tourists can enjoy visiting Chitral round the year. The new schemes included government-level holding of Jashan-e-Tirichmir 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. 

The experience of visiting foreign tourists in rented rooms of houses has proved to be quite successful in Gilgit-Baltistan, which not only resulted into increasing the number of tourists, but also the income of the local people enhanced considerably.

This was stated by Adviser to the Chief Minister on Tourism and Culture Zahid Chanzeb at a meeting with delegations from Chitral, says a press release. They assured the adviser that tourists in Chitral will go back to their countries with pleasant memories of the locals’ hospitality, creating a good soft image of the area.

Zahid Chanzeb said a new scheme called Families Based Accommodation for Foreign Tourists was included amongst 18 new schemes for which Rs437 million had been allocated in the new budget while their total expenditures had been estimated at Rs3779 million. He said Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and he himself were 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.

The arrival of foreign tourists also increased continuously owing to such type of hospitality by the locals, he added.

He said Tirichmir festival will be celebrated in Chitral every year under the patronage of the KP government wherein traditional dances, photo exhibitions, archery, horse riding, hiking, trekking and mountaineering competitions will be held at the foot of the 25,300 feet highest mountain of Chitral. Due to this, the number of foreign tourists would increase.

Earlier, at a meeting with a delegation from Chitral, which included MPA Fatehul Mulk Ali Nasir and PTI Senior Vice President Malakand Division Razit Ballah, the advisor said the provincial government would leave no stone unturned to further promote tourism in Chitral. He also assured the delegation that all-out steps will be taken to promote tourism in Chitral so that the menace of unemployment can be completely eradicated from there.  Mr Chanzeb also assured them to establish a park at Drosh Gol.