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revival Wild
Canada Despite the prevailing insurgency in certain pockets, NWFP continues to be one of the most charming, hospitable and tourist-friendly destinations in Pakistan By Dr Ali Jan Tourism in NWFP plummeted in the aftermath of 9/11. The general image of the region also declined under the previous MMA government. The Frontier province is home to the Pashtuns. They have had bad press in recent years because the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan were also Pashtuns. As a result the world media have tended to dismiss all Pashtuns, even those from NWFP as primitive and barbaric, which is a gross misrepresentation. The foreign travel advisories and warnings emanating from the other side of the globe are highly exaggerated and generalised which adds insult to injury. Beneath all the
international political and media hype, the actual reality on the ground is
often forgotten. Despite the prevailing insurgency in certain pockets such as
Swat, Malakand and the Recently, the Government of NWFP, acting on a summary forwarded by Sarhad Tourism Corporation (STC) filed a claim worth $40 million from the Federal Government owing to the decline in tourism industry because of terrorism during the period 2003-08. According to Zahoor Durrani, MD of Sehrai Travels, the oldest tour operators in Peshawar, the so-called ‘War on Terror’ and the accompanied foreign media backlash has put tremendous strain on Pakistan which is a crucial ally in this war. “Increasing suicide bombings, lawlessness, price hikes, inflation, energy and food shortages etc have deprived people of their basic rights. It has affected every sphere of life in a developing country which finds itself in the eye of a storm since 9/11.” “Like other sectors, tourism industry that contributes a large share in the economy has been worst-hit. Instead of improving, the ground situation appears to be deteriorating day by day. The NWFP and adjoining FATA region which have the best tourist spots in the country have been particularly affected. Thousands of families who depended on tourism related businesses are now deprived of their only source of livelihood in areas such as Swat, Chitral, Hazara, Mardan, Peshawar etc and Darra Adamkhel and Khyber Agency in FATA. The situation looks extremely grim.” Durrani has asked the federal government to expedite processing of STC’s claim and to announce a special ‘Tourism Industry Assistance and Compensation Package.’ According to him, amounts may be distributed in the form of royalty to the province to be distributed amongst deserving claimants and all those tourism related private sector businesses in the worst affected areas particularly in Swat. “More money needs to be invested in the tourism sector itself as successful tourism is the best way to enhance the country’s image,” he argues. Drawing tourists in the
current setting may seem like a contradiction in terms, but it is a challenge
that STC has wholeheartedly accepted. According to Muhammad Azam Khan, MD STC,
“If STC is determined to change the current misperception about NWFP from being “an area of ‘hostility’ to its real identity -- of a friendly and welcoming destination, a land of hospitality,” he says. “The fabled terrain, people, history and culture of NWFP are our biggest assets. We have been endowed with a unique land with a recorded history going back to thousands of years. Indeed, it has much of interest to offer for everyone. The government of NWFP is also working on an ambitious plan to improve the tourism infrastructure in NWFP as well,” according to MD STC. In order to enhance the region’s image and to remove current misconceptions, STC plans a year-long activity schedule catering to different interests. The intention is to give a boost to domestic tourism, project a soft image, generate healthy activity and competition and to bring NWFP on the news circuit for something other than ‘militancy’ and ‘terrorism’. Starting with the Chilum Jusht or Joshi, the Kalash Spring Festival (May 13-16, 2008), STC has planned dozens of other exciting activities in the calendar year. These include adventure sports such as polo on Yaks, Shandur polo, wild boar trophy, hunting and revival of historic trails such as Buddism trail, in the ‘Footsteps of Alexander,’ British-era expedition trails, opening of new routes for the Khyber Steam Safari such as Peshawar to Dargai via Takht Bahi and so on. STC has come up with a novel idea to promote tourism. Under its ‘Suggest a tourism slogan, win a prize!’ competition currently underway, the government hopes to achieve two things: One, it wants public participation in tourism related affairs; two, it wants aggressive marketing of popular tourist destinations in the province. According to details available on STC’s website www.nwfptourism.com.pk “The romance of North West Frontier Province of Pakistan is timeless and legendary. In a bid to attract more domestic and international tourists and to project the region positively, STC invites one & all to suggest appealing, catchy and attractive slogans that could be adopted for tourism promotional purposes. The slogans and catchwords shall be displayed on important tourist entry points and printed on stickers and tourist brochures. Winning slogan would be selected by the Tourism Advisory Committee. The slogans should reflect NWFP’s fabled cultural, historical and tourism charm, identity and values. They could be in versions of English, Urdu or Pashto and consist of a phrase or sentence of words readable. They should be easy to remember & convey a sense of our traditional hospitality, warmth, cordiality, enchanting natural beauty and adventure that is the Frontier. They should be accompanied with the contributor’s name, phone and address. Suggestions must be submitted before May 20, 2008 by E-mail (stcnwfp@hotmail.com) or fax (+92-91-9210871).
A road trip around the south west of Canada reminds one of the beauty and serenity nature has to offer By Mohammad Ayaz Khan The north western states of the USA and south western parts of Canada are blessed with natural beauty boasting some of the world’s most famous national parks and areas inhabited by wild animals. These places expose travellers to the serene nature with frequent sighting of wildlife on both sides of the road. We started our journey on
East I-90 highway via Helena, the capital of Montana and crossed The road passes through vast ranches used for livestock rearing. The signboards here show the distance in kilometres instead of miles because Canada follows British system of measurements. Edmonton and Calgary are the main big cities of Alberta. Passing through Calgary and magnificent landscapes and awe-inspiring scenes all the way long, we reached Banff National Park at about 9 pm. The downtown of Banff, situated amid the park, is a small town like an island in the middle of the forest which is visited by more than 6 million people each year from all over the world both in summer and winter. Banff is the Canada’s first and world’s third national park established in 1883 when Canadian Pacific Railway Company opened the area for tourists. The railway company built Banff Spring Hotel to attract rich people to explore the beauty of the rocky mountains of Canada. The attractions for tourists include forests, meadows, glaciers and wild animals and birds. They can enjoy skiing, bird watching, boating, biking, swimming, snowshoeing, waterfall ice-climbing, canoeing, biking etc. The huge influx of tourists
and urbanisation are the majors concerns of the park management. A Our next stop was Jasper
National Park in the north of Banff. This park was established in 1930 which
was declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. The highway from Banff to
Jasper is the most scenic passing through dense confiner forests, lakes, and
meadows giving a spectacular view of the interior of Canadian Rocky
Mountains. The main attractions of Jasper Park include Mount Edith Cavell,
Pyramid Mountain, Maligne Lake, Medicine Lake, Tonquin valley. About 18 to 24
million tourists visit the parks in the Alberta Province of Canada each year
which largely contributes to the Canadian economy from this growing industry. Capturing the golden moments in Alberta, we packed up for Vancouver situated in the province British Columbia, the west of Canada. We navigated our route through GPS by entering address in the handy instrument to guide us to our direction and destination with the estimated time and distance from one destination to another. Making use of the well developed rest-places along the highway we drove for about 11 hours to reach Vancouver. It was a change from wilderness to the hustle and bustle of the city with web of roads, squares, traffic lights, and tall buildings. The situation in Canada is
entirely different from Pakistan where the people are so heavily dependent on
natural resources that these resources, particularly forest and wildlife, are
declinin On Sunday we left Vancouver for Washington after visiting Stanley Park, White Rock, Surrey Town, Aquarium, Shopping Malls and other recreational areas in Vancouver. After necessary registration at the border we reached Seattle at about 6 pm. Next day we left for Missoula and after driving for about 8 hours we reached our apartment in the campus of University of Montana completing a circle around the Northwester parts of USA and South western parts of Canada in ten days. We reached Missoula with the memories of the world’s most famous national parks, scenic highways of the world, culture of aboriginal people, urban busy life and gup shup with our Pakistani friends after a lapse of ten years.
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Tribal Areas, statistically speaking and otherwise, NWFP continues to be one
of the most charming, hospitable and tourist-friendly destinations in
Pakistan.
terrorism-hit
countries like Sri Lanka, Israel, Nepal and Egypt can carry on successful
tourism, there is no reason why we can’t. Let’s defeat terrorism with
tourism!”
US-Canada border at Sweet-Grass after seven hours drive. At the US-Canada
border vehicles were lined up for completion of paper formalities with
immigration department. After clearance from the border officials, we entered
Alberta province in Canada.
number of over passes and under passes have been constructed on the highway
for the free movement of wild animals across the large landscape. If you want
to know about the culture of aboriginal people the best place to go is Whyte
Museum. The museum has a huge collection of artefacts about the lifestyle of
aboriginals.
g rapidly. The
mountains in many parts of Pakistan are becoming barren causing floods, and
erosion harming human life.