EDITORIAL: Prime Minister Imran Khan has been right all along that we have missed a great opportunity to properly tap the “great potential” of the tourism sector as a “big money earner.” We have the best of everything that the industry could possibly need to thrive, from remains of great historic civilisations to epic mountain ranges, 12 climate zones, rivers, a sea, and a lot more. Yet countries like Turkey were earning around $35-40 billion every year from tourism till just before the pandemic, and there’s no reason for them not to touch the same numbers again now that international travel is reopening, while Pakistan considered it something of a miracle when travel and tourism fetched it somewhere around $7 billion in 2016. And it is just sad that the only reason for this state of affairs is that literally no government in at least the last half century gave it any thought at all.
Therefore, it is very good news that the present government is committed to doing something about it despite all its financial constraints; the logic, after all, is that nurturing the sector will eventually ease the burden on the kitty. And the fact that it will still take airlines a while to resume pre-pandemic level operations can be used to good advantage to get back in the game, so to speak, and build a bit of infrastructure and offer inviting packages to give travellers something new to think about when they plan their vacations. Once it takes off, the government will only have to nudge things here as the private sector takes over and brings a touch of corporate efficiency to the process. There’s a couple of years to go till the election so any quick success on this front can be milked for precious votes as well.
The timing could, however, also be a big problem. It doesn’t look as if Afghanistan is preparing itself for a period of lasting peace once occupying forces leave and in the worst case scenario, should another ugly civil war break out there as some are already fearing, then all bets are off for Pakistan’s tourism sector. Because in that case foreign embassies will not wait till refugees flood into Pakistan and treat everybody to a repeat performance of the disasters that came with the last few wars in Afghanistan, they will do it the moment fighting gets out of control in the neighbouring country. And we are going to need a lot more than the few adventurous souls that would still travel within the country to take in a few sights for the “true potential” and “big money” parts of the tourism plan to come true.
That’s just one more reason for Pakistan to want to see a smooth transition in Afghanistan. So far Islamabad has played perhaps the most pivotal role in making the intra-Afghan talks possible by making the Taliban come to the table but now it has very little, if any, leverage left over the militia. So the best it can do is watch from the side and hope for the best. Not too long ago, when the Afghan war midwifed the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and that militia was headquartered in the tribal area, its fighters dynamited a number of tourist resorts in the northern areas. That means that the government has a lot of ground to cover in not much time while the sword of a possible Afghan civil war hangs over its head all the time.
It must, therefore, start on the front foot and look to score quickly. And considering how seriously the prime minister himself takes this thing, surely some very comprehensive plans would already have been prepared. The sooner they are put into practice the better for travellers as well as the national reserves.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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