Tourism Industry of Pakistan

Osama Iftikhar
ZeshanTanveer
Muhammad Usman Naseer
Roheel Ghulam Muhammad

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History:
Pakistan came on the world map as an independent sovereign state in August 1947, as a result of
the division of the British Indian Empire. With a land area of 881,888 sq. km. Historically, this is
one of the most ancient lands known to man. Its cities flourished before Babylon was built; its
people practiced the art of good living and citizenship before the celebrated ancient Greeks.
The region traces its history back to at least 2,500 years before Christ, when a highly developed
civilization flourished in the Indus Valley. Excavations at Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Kot Diji
have brought to light evidence of an advanced civilization flourishing here even in most ancient
times. In 712 A.D. the Arabs, led by Mohammed Bin Qasim, landed somewhere near what is
now Karachi, and ruled the lower half of Pakistan for two hundred years. During this time Islam
took root and influenced the life, culture and traditions of the inhabitants of the region.
It again took a turn when in 18th century A.D., the British colonized the Sub-continent and ruled
for nearly 200 years (for 100 years over what is now Pakistan). In 1930, the well-known
poet/philosopher, Dr. Mohammed Iqbal conceived the idea of a separate state for the Muslims of
the Sub-continent, and in 1940, the All-India Muslim League adopted the famous Pakistan
Resolution.
After seven years of untiring struggle, under the brilliant leadership of Quaid-e-Azam
Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan emerged on the world map as a sovereign state on August 14,
1947, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent states - India and
Pakistan.

Culture:
Pakistan has a rich and unique culture that has preserved established traditions throughout
history. Many cultural practices, foods, monuments, and shrines were inherited from the rule of
Muslim Mughal and Afghan emperors including the national dress of Shalwar Qameez. Women
wear brightly coloured shalwar qameez, while men often wear solid-coloured ones, usually with
a sherwani or achkan (long coat) that is worn over the garment.

The variety of Pakistani music ranges from diverse provincial folk music and traditional styles
such as Qawwali and Ghazal Gayaki to modern forms fusing traditional and western music, such
as the synchronisation of Qawwali and western music by the renowned Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
The arrival of Afghan refugees in the western provinces has rekindled Pashto and Persian music
and established Peshawar as a hub for Afghan musicians and a distribution centre for Afghan
music abroad. There are also small indigenous movie industries based in Lahore and Peshawar
(often referred to as Lollywood and Pollywood).
Pakistani society is largely multilingual and predominantly Muslim, with high regard for
traditional family values, although urban families have grown into a nuclear family system due
to the socio-economic constraints imposed by the traditional joint family system.

Tourism:
Tourism was a growing industry in Pakistan, based on its diverse cultures, peoples and
landscapes. Ancient civilization ruins such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and Taxila, to the
Himalayan hill stations attract those interested in field and winter sports. Pakistan is home to
several mountain peaks over 7000m, which attracts adventurers and mountaineers from around
the world, especially K2. The northern parts of Pakistan have many old fortresses, towers and
other architecture as well as the Hunza and Chitral valleys, the latter being home to the small
pre-Islamic Animist Kalasha community who claim descent from the army of Alexander the
Great. Pakistan's cultural capital with many examples of Mughal architecture such as the
Badshahi Masjid, Shalimar Gardens, Tomb of Jahangir and the Lahore Fort.
The landscape of Pakistan ranges from lofty mountains in the north, the Karakoram and the
Himalayas, through dissected plateaus to the rich alluvial plains of the Punjab. Then follows
desolate barrenness of Balochistan and the hot dry deserts of Sindh blending into miles and miles
of golden beaches of Mekran coast.
Pakistan is a home to hundreds of traditional festivals and events throughout the year. Below are
some of a few Festival Highlights that take place in Pakistan.

Basant Festival
Kalash Festivals
Shandur Polo Festival
Sibi Mela

Mela Chiraghan
Silk Road Festival
World Art Performing Festival
Jashn e Bahran

The Cuisine of Pakistan can be described as fusion of cuisine from three Asian regions - South
Asia, Central Asia, and Middle East. Pakistani cuisine is often spicy and also known for its
richness. Within Pakistan, the food also varies greatly from region to region, reflecting the
country's ethnic, cultural and culinary diversity. International cuisine and fast food are popular in
cities. Blending local and foreign recipes (fusion food) is common in large urban centers.

Downturn of tourism:
All of the above factors supports Pakistan to be an ideal location for the tourist but even then
Pakistan is not flourishing in the field of tourism the way it should. Travel and Tourism
Competitiveness Report (TTCR) 2009 released by World Economic Forum, Pakistan stands at
113, and two places down from the previous year; moreover, the list got longer from130 to 133
this year. Some of the major problems that are effecting are as follows

Terrorism
The biggest factor that is affecting Pakistans economy and tourism is terrorism.
Pakistan has become an unsafe place due to ever-increasing terrorist attacks. Persistent
terror activities in the country have negatively impacted the tourism business, especially
after the Marriot Hotel attack which left 60 people dead. People think it an unsafe place
after the murder of popular political figures like Benazir Bhutto and Salman Taseer
(governor of major province Punjab).
With the international cricket teams unwilling to play in Pakistan, the tourists who
were attracted via this sport have been lost due to national security concerns.

Inability to Cope with Natural Disasters

Pakistans government lacks the ability to cope with the natural calamities. Northern
areas of Pakistan have been the tourists favorite place but after earthquake of 2005 & flood
situation of 2010, those areas suffered incomparable loss but nothing had been done for their
re-construction and redevelopment. Poor disaster management caused a loss to the tourism
industry.

Lack of Proper Infrastructure

Infrastructure in Pakistan is a great cause of the failure of profitable tourism industry.

There are not proper roads, railway tracks and other transportation services. So tourists find it
difficult to visit different places in Pakistan. Poor infrastructure is a hindrance in the way of
developed and flourished tourism industry.

Rising Inflation
Inflation is considered another major cause of the failure of tourism industry. The

hotel owners have to increase the price of food because of ever increasing prices of goods.
High priced food has made Pakistan a place that is beyond the reach and affordability of
tourists.

Current Schema:
In the current time when ever any one listen the name of Pakistan more of negative words and
very less positive words come into mind

Terrorism
Food

Poverty

4
seasons

Gender
Discrimination

Pakistan
Bad
Governance

Basant

Energy
Crises

Heritage
Land
scape

Culture
& Social
values

New Schema:
Now its a time we have to focus on the tourism industry and change the mentality of people
about Pakistan.
Culture
&
Social
values

Basant

Land
Scape

Glacier

Desert

Heritage

Pakistan

Hospitality

4
Seasons

Food
Economic
Growth

Biggest Sports
manufacturer

Target Market:
Tourist of Pakistan can be categorized into 3 broad categories

Religious travelers
These are mostly Sikh who are visiting Nankana Shaib & Panga Shaib on yearly
bases. This includes Sikh from all over the world. With Sikh there are some

Muslims who visits the shrines of some sufies but there ratio is very less
Business travelers
God has gifted us with hot water sea due to which Pakistan is having a very
strategically location in map. China has to travel all the way from Khaber to
Karachi to export its goods international markets. Due to this we are also serving

some business travelers

Tourist
This includes all those people who are entering into the boundaries of Pakistan for
the sake of fun and enjoyment. They spend a lot as they are on holidays and want
to enjoy every second of their trip.

Keeping all these factors in mind we are focusing on tourist (international + local) to get
maximum revenue from tourism industry

Communicating the new image:

After identifying the possible strong points about creating a positive image in the mind of world;
now the question is how to communicate it?
Along with the TVC promoting Pakistan we are also focusing on drama industry. Pakistani TV
industry is flourishing now days and Pakistani serials are being watch and followed all over the
world due to dish TV and internet. We can use our TV industry as a strong tool to communicate
a positive image in the mind of world. Taking an example of Turkish dramas (Mera Sultan,
Farhia etc) which are being dubbed in Urdu and being watched in Pakistan. People are following

those dramas and learning about the culture, values, history, present, landscape etc. about Turkey.
By watching to the beauty of Turkey in those dramas everyone starts talking about Turkey and
wish to visit the country.
Same in this way we can communicate a positive image of Pakistan in international world which
will help us to attract more tourists. Only thing needed in this regard is to provide a better
platform to TV industry and motivate them to show positive aspects of Pakistan. Local
departments should provide them every support they need in this regard.
After this people will get attracted towards Pakistan or those who are already attracted towards
it; most common medium they will use to search about Pakistan would be internet. With the
help of Google add words, Google add sense and some other searching tools by Google we can
use internet in an effective way. When someone search about Pakistan they get nice pictures
about landscape, culture, basant, food etc. Pakistan tourism Development Corporation is the
most trusted source for the tourist as its a government organization but unfortunately its website
is not designed properly. We have to design in a user friendly way so that people get all the
relevant information from it.
Third and the most effective medium now days is social media. Tourist follows different pages
to get all the latest updates about the traveling and new places. We will use this medium
efficiently with the help of social media options provided by the companies. Like Facebook is
offering the option of page boost & suggested page to the users. This will help us to gather
more prospective traffic to our social media channels. We will upload all the latest news related
tourism to our social media and some testimonials of our tourist. We will also encourage our
tourists to share their experience pictures on our social media.
In combination to all this we will post ads in local & international travelling magazines &
journals. We will plan events like Basant, Cholistan Jeep Really, Shindor Polo Festival etc to
attract international tourist. As these events are going to be planed under the supervision of
government and ministry of tourism people will feel safe to participate. With all this a major
positive factor to be included in all advertising mediums is the security factor, You come to
Pakistan and we will provide you official security. This will boost up the moral and courage of
tourists to visit Pakistan.

Positioning:
All the factors in the current schema for Pakistan are part of real positioning. Only the factor of
Gender Discrimination is of psychological positioning and it will be addressed by showing
successful women of Pakistan in the advertisement for promoting Pakistan, e.g. the first lady
pilot, the first lady to climb Mount Everest, the business women and women in every field of
life. This will help remove this psychological misconception in peoples minds about gender
discrimination in Pakistan.

Recommendation for government:

Tourism industry in Pakistan needs special steps to be taken for its betterment because it can
serve as a source of developed economy. In spite of the above mentioned problems and factors
tourism industry is still surviving as Pakistan has been ranked at 39 th place for ground transport
infrastructure. It shows that a little bit of attention can make it one of the largest industries of
Pakistan.
There are some issues which really need to be addressed on the government level. 1 st thing is to
resolve these terrorist activities or provide some special security to the tourist so that they can
enjoy without any fear.
Infrastructural developments need to be done specially in northern areas which got effected by
flood and earthquake as those areas are depicting the real beauty of Pakistan and maximum of
tourist were attracted towards those areas before the natural disasters
References:
https://mojotravel.wordpress.com/tag/pakistans-tourism-industry-downfall/
http://www.tourism.gov.pk/