Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Directs To Finalize Comprehensive Tourism Promotion Design

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has directed to finalize a comprehensive tourism promotional design in coordination with the concerned departments indicating different tourism destinations attracting the large scale tourists in the province.

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Oct, 2018 ) :Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has directed to finalize a comprehensive tourism promotional design in coordination with the concerned departments indicating different tourism destinations attracting the large scale tourists in the province.

"The promotion of tourism will stay at the top of his government's priorities. It would be promoted as an industry with the capacity for mass scale job creation, economic development and overall prosperity of this province", he added.

He was presiding over a meeting of the task force on tourism in the province at Chief Minister Secretariat Peshawar which also decided the induction of new members of the task force that included Additional Chief Secretary, Secretaries Finance, Home, Information, SMBR, IGP, DG food and DG Rescue.

The meeting was attended by Senior Minister Muhammad Atif Khan, Provincial Ministers Shahram Tarakai, Akbar Ayub, Provincial Government's Spokesperson MPA Shaukat Ali Yousafzai, Additional Chief Secretary Shahzad Bangash, IGP Salahuddain Mehsood, SMBR Fakhre Alam, administrative secretaries.

The Chief Minister directed for a complete master plan for the promotion of tourism in the province.

The plan should also indicate the targets with the time tag, the responsibilities of Federal and provincial governments and the implementation of laws in this regard. The provincial government can also make special laws for tourist's spots. However, there should be short term, mid-term and long term planning, he added.

The meeting was briefed about the irritants in the promotion of tourism in the province and the chair directed the sports, C&W, Environment, Law, Food Safety Authority and Rescue 1122 to sit together and find a solution to all these irritants.

He directed for the preservation of forests in the tourists spots. We wanted promotion of controlled tourism that included eco-tourism.

He also directed for total estimates of different initiatives including raising police force, the future needs to be required for the promotion of tourism in the province.

The federal and provincial governments would take care of their responsibilities.

Both the federal and provincial governments were on the same page for opening new tourists spots in the province, he added.

Chief Minister said the provincial government would include some of the infrastructure and road communication projects in the first go and the rest would be offered to the private sector for tourism promotion.

The state land could be acquired for tourism promotion and even land could be acquired in order to promote tourism in the province for the rapid growth and prosperity.

The Chief Minister also directed to plan promotion of cultural and religious tourism in the province.

The meeting was briefed about the 20 newly identified tourist's spots in the province and the Chief Minister directed for accelerated work on these spots.

The meeting also briefed about the Ilam heritage national park. Chief Minister directed to involve the local community of the Kumrat Valley in the promotion of tourist's spots that will create jobs at the local level, develop local economy and would lead to the overall stability of the economy of the province.

He also directed for the construction of rest areas and washrooms and the integration of different valley's in order to promote tourism.

He also directed tospeed up work on the Jarogo Abshaar that the previous PTI government approvedwith the cost of Rs 20 million.