by Muhammad Mudassir Tipu

 

Pakistan, a culturally and socially diverse country, is a land of magical and mystical beauty. Boasting a civilization going back to millennia, the country is a bastion of cultural relics inherited from knowledge and experience of communities, historians, artists, archaeologists, and anthropologists. The country’s spiritual heritage is epitomized by the mosques, shrines, temples, churches, gurduwaras, and mandirs that it has preserved over time immemorial. The U.S. magazine Condé Nast Traveler ranked Pakistan as the No.1 travel destination for tourism in 2020.

 

Taxila, an ancient city, is a trove of treasures with Buddhist Stupas and archaeological remains and tales of history tell us that Thomas the Apostle came to present-day Taxila in the first century AD. Deep in Kalasha Valleys of Chitral, you can meet the indigenous tribe who are believed to be descendants of Alexander the Great. Due to its cultural power, the World Economic Forum has placed Pakistan among the top 25 per cent of global destinations for its UNESCO ‘World Heritage Sites’.

 

Pakistan’s landscape is unique and varied, with high altitude mountain ranges in the North; a series of low mountain ranges from the North to the Southwest; plains and deserts to the East; and warm and captivating beaches of the Arabian Sea to the South. With 7,253 known glaciers, Pakistan has more glacial ice than any other country on the Earth outside the Polar Regions.

 

The northern areas of Pakistan meet the three spectacular mountain ranges, Karakoram, Hindukush, and the Himalayas. Pakistan has five of the 14 highest independent peaks in the world (the Eight Thousanders), including K2, Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum I & II, and Broad Peak. Home to 108 peaks above 7,000 meters and over four thousand peaks above 6,000 meters, an entire series can be devoted to the mountains of Pakistan. Other than the lofty mountains, the north offers cultural heritage, beautiful valleys, natural lakes, glaciers and an array of rare fauna and flora. The Polo festival at Shandur Top in Gilgit Baltistan is an out of this world experience with the backdrop of snowy mountains, alpine flowers, and sparkling lakes.

 

Pakistan’s four provinces have rich cultural diversity with differences in food, art, traditions, and way of life. Karachi, the port city, has landmarks such as Empress Market, the Bristol Hotel, Frere Hall, and the founding father Quid-e-Azam Jinnah’s Mausoleum. Peshawar, known as the ‘City on the Frontier’, is located on the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia with historic sites, and Qissa Kahwani bazaar’s inescapable beauty. Baluchistan has breathtaking attractions such as Quetta, nicknamed the ‘fruit garden of Pakistan’, and Urak Valley, Quaid-e-Azam’s Residency Ziarat, and Pishin Valley among many others.

 

A serene abode to nature lovers, the lush green Kashmir, bestowed with nature’s bounties is ideal for sporting activities like skiing, paragliding and river rafting. In the north, you can live at the Khaplu Palace, a mid-19th century imperial building like Baltistani royalty. To experience Mughal Architecture, a visit to Lahore with sights of Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens, and Badshahi Mosque is a must. New York Times picked Lahore as one of the top places to visit in 2021.

 

The British Backpacker society ranked Pakistan as the number one adventure travel destination for 2018. Will Hatton, author of The Broke Backpacker, wrote that Pakistani people are “hospitable, kind and welcoming people”. Locals are generous who will invite you to their homes without prior meeting, shopkeepers will ask you to have chai (tea) while you are window shopping and its rich cultural power embraces you with open arms. Pakistani street food and chai at makeshift cafes are a world of their own bustling with resilient and joyful youth. Fragrant, spicy and delectable- many local dishes carry cultural heritage rooted in history and geography of the country.

 

In recent years, Pakistan has witnessed an incredible improvement in its security situation. The Gallup Law and Order Report of 2021 ranks Pakistan, Italy, Sri Lanka and Israel at the same score of 84 keeping it above many developed countries. The Serbian-based Numbeo Crime Index that ranks 452 cities has lowered Karachi’s rank from 13th in 2013, to 127th in 2021 while Islamabad and Lahore are ranked at the 396th and 274th positions respectively, showing that the cities of Pakistan are safer when compared with other major cosmopolitan cities. Pakistan also fares far better in comparison with many advanced economies in the Numbeo’s Crime Index 2022.

 

Hospitality and tourism industry is throbbing in Pakistan. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has made promotion of tourism a priority and his determination is yielding positive results. Pakistan’s tourism future is full of hope as the government is aiming to initiate new projects and produce jobs through ongoing efforts and future initiatives to promote tourism.

 

Pakistan is offering visas on arrival to visitors from over 50 countries and electronic visas to 175 nationalities. In 2017, an estimated 1.7 million foreigners visited Pakistan. The number further grew in the following years, pre-Pandemic. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) forecast that the country’s tourism sector will grow to over $40 billion within a decade. According to WTTC, one in four jobs was created by Travel and Tourism during 2014-2019 in Pakistan. Tourism contribution to GDP was 10.4% in 2019. Multiple digital resources provide consumers with all the information to plan their trip by aggregating companies and travel agents from across Pakistan onto one platform.

 

Football lovers will be happy to know that coaches from Great Britain are coming to Karachi this month to train Pakistan’s young and rambunctious football fans. And the crazy cricket fans are absolutely thrilled that the top cricketers from all over the world are pouring in Pakistan to play in Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches.

 

Pakistan is emerging as one of the best travel destinations in the world. The jovial and vibrant South Asian nation is a great place to enjoy natural beauty and hospitality of its people. In 2017, Cassie De Pescol, the first person to travel to all 196 countries on the planet, put Pakistan as her 5th favorite country after her groundbreaking journey, citing that it was one of her most educational and enriching experiences.