Tourism Industry of Pakistan

Tourism Industry of Pakistan2015Osama IftikharL1F13MBAM2194ZeshanTanveerL1F13MBAM2237Muhammad Usman NaseerL1F13MBAM2275Roheel Ghulam MuhammadL1F13MBAM2212

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 Jashne Bahran

The Cuisine of Pakistancan 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 TerrorismThe 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 MarriotHotel 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 cricketteams unwilling to play in Pakistan, the tourists who were attracted via this sport have been lostdue to national security concerns. Inability to Cope with Natural DisastersPakistans 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 InfrastructureInfrastructure 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 InflationInflation 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

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

Target Market:Tourist of Pakistan can be categorized into 3 broad categories Religious travelersThese 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 travelersGod 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 TouristThis 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 industryCommunicating 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 39thplace 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. 1st 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/