PESHAWAR: In order to promote tourism, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has finalized ‘Mezban’, a home-stay project, that will be launched by December 15 this year.
Initially, the project would be launched at a cost of Rs.395 million, providing interest-free loans of up to Rs.3 million to homeowners in tourist districts to offer quality accommodation facilities to tourists.
This was decided in a meeting of the tourism department held at Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Tuesday with Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in the chair.
The meeting decided that local people interested in providing accommodation to tourists within their premises would either build at least two new rooms or renovate existing ones as per standard set by the department. These rooms would offer all essential facilities for tourists, including bathrooms and kitchens.
Initially, the project will be launched in Upper Chitral, Lower Chitral, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Mansehra, Abbottabad, and Swat districts. The loans to be provided to local residents would be distributed through the Bank of Khyber with a repayment period of five years, starting from the second year after receiving the loan.
The chief minister highlighted the vast tourism potential in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, adding ‘utilizing these opportunities effectively not only could enhance the province’s revenue stream, but would also create employment opportunities for locals’.
He termed home-stay tourism as an ideal project for promoting tourism and traditional hospitality of the province. He directed the relevant officials to ensure progress on the project as per stipulated timelines, as well as to implement plans for providing washrooms on the roads to tourist areas before commencement of next tourism season.