Tourism Sites in Pakistan

Presented by Syed House

Pakistan abounds with varied terrain, exotic mountains, and sunny beaches, ancient Indus valley civilization, Gandhara

heritage, Moghul and Islamic history, splendid seasonal variety and diversity of cultures is a special interest tourist

destination. Its main areas of tourist attraction revolve around trekking, mountaineering and adventure tourism in the northern areas and cultural tourism in the Punjab and

Sindh regions. In addition to this, its rich colorful history of invasions by various tribes and religions make it a hub for religious tourists ranging from Sikhs, Buddhist and Hindus

as well as Muslims. Moreover, extensive coastline and desert landscapes offers potential for safaris and beach tourism as

in neighboring countries. This Presentation aims to Show Tourism Potential of Pakistan in both Natural and Cultural

Sector.

Introduction

Natural Sites

SINDH

Attractions•Scenic Beauty•Fishing•Hunting•Bird Watching•Sunny spots

Future potential•Scuba diving (study of marine life)•Parasailing\Water skiing•Development of islands as a tourism site (e.g. Bhukkur Island)

Coast and Beaches

Gorakh hillsAttractions•Cool climate•Undisturbed Scenic Beauty•Species of birds and other animals•Natural Spring Gaji Bunjo•Kirthar National Park

Future Potentials•Establishment as a hill station•Rock Climbing•Bungee Jumping

Attractions• Khataji fall• Manchar and Keenchar lake• Beautiful man-made lakes • Fishing• Bird Watching• Camping• Boating• Hunting

Future Potentials• Huts and Rest houses• Cheap Caravan rentals

Lakes

Punjab

Attractions• nathia gali • Hill station• Numerous hotels and restaurants• Hiking• Site Seeing• Shopping• Chair Lifts• Beautiful Valleys

Murree and Gallies

Attractions• Second largest salt mine in the world• Underground train and tourist site inside mine• Suitable for visiting in winter and summer both• Kallar Kahar lake

Future potentials• Resort or hill top amusement park

Khewra Salt mines

Khyber Pakhtunkhuah

and Gilgit-Baltistan

Naran Kaghan ValleyAttractions• Lake Saif-ul-Muluk• Aansoo jheel(hiking)• Lala Zar• Babusar pass and Lake lulusar• Malakundi forrest• Batakundi• Sari Paya• Shogran• Balakot• Glaciers• Other than that numerous beautiful meadows and springs

Future Potentials• Better Hiking programs• More publicity• Rafting• Rock climbing

Swat ValleyAttractions• Shangla• Malam Jabba• Miandam• Ushu• Kalam• Utrot Gabral• Sites include natural springs ,beautiful lakes and valleys and a ski

spot• Gem stone and ancient coin market

Future Potential• Security and publicity• Proper ski resorts with other extreme sports• Hiking and camping packages• Reserving areas for bird watching

Valleys of Gilgit-BaltistanAttraction• Gilgit Valley,Chitral Valley, Hunza Valley and Kalasha Valley• Skardu• Fairy Meadows• Nanga Parbat• K-2• Karakoram Highway• Khunjerab Pass, Karakoram Pass• Garam Chashma• Dasu-Patan Deepest Gorge• Camping,Hiking,Skiing,extreme sports• Speacies of birds and other animals

Future Potentials• Better traveling routes• More hotels and better facilities• Publicising festivals

Azad KashmirAttractions• Muaffarabad• Neelum Valley • Jehlum Valley• Nipa valley• Poonch and Sudhnoti• Bagh and Kotli • Mirpur and Bhimber

Future Potential• Area is quite under developed and requires construction of• Proper Routes• Hotels• Resorts• Facilities

Balochistan

Balochistan CoastlineAttractions• Unspoilt Sunny Beaches• Gwadar, Jivani, Pasni • Makran coastal Highway • Freash sea fish

Future Potentials• Proper metal roads and routes• Tourist Facilities• Rest Houses• Plantation• Resort Facilities• Opportunities for locals to take part in tourism promotional

activities

Quetta and PassesAttractions• Hazarganji Chiltan National Park• Variety of mammals, birds and reptiles• Proper facilities• Shrubs and trees of different types such as pistachios, juniper, wild olive,

barberry, wild cherry, makhi, etc • Mueseums• Hanna lake• Shopping• Ziarat• Lak pass • Bolan Pass• Khojak Pass• Harnai Pass

Future Potential• Creating proper tourism programs• Introducing activities for families• development of hill station resorts as well as chairlifts at Ziarat

Pishin Valley And Bund Khushdil Khan• Attractions• Fruit Orchards• Lake • Duck shooting• Fishing• Pir Ghaib• Water Fall

• Future Potential• Tourist Facilities• Proper Roads• Huts • Shelters

Cultural Sites

SindhAttractions•Umerkot (fort)•MirpurKhas•Sukkur•Ranikot fort (a wall quite similar to great wall of China)•Thatta•Shah Jehan’s Mosque•Makli•Bhumbore•Chokundi

Future Potential•Construction of proper routes•Security for tourists•Proper rest houses and restaurants

Mohenjodaro and HarappaAttractions•Remains of one of the most remarkable civilization•Harappa and Mohenjodaro great attractions for Archeologists•PTDC rest house for archeologists•Discovery of large pool engraved seals, ornaments, utensils, pottery weapons, figurines and toys.•Prehistoric culture

Future Potentials:•Construction of a museum•Facilities to aatract tourists other than architects•Shops hotels and Souvenirs •Security for the site

Tharparkar Attractions•Festivals•Lifestyle and Culture•Clothes and Jewellry•Hanmade ornaments such as rilli and crockery•Gori•Naukot•Nagarparkar•Mithi•Virawah•Bhalwa•Bhodisar•Warwai •Kasbo•Diverse Flora and Fauna

Future potential•Desert safari•Development in Tourism facilities•Water Supply•Proper Road infrastructure

KhyberpakhtunkhuaAttractions•Tarbela Dam•Faisal Mosque (Islamabad)•Attock Fort •Panja Sahib HassanAbdal (SikhTemple)•Tomb of Syed Ahmed Shaheed Barelvi Balakot•Handicraft in northern Areas•Gem stone Market •Cultural Ornaments and other shopping

Gilgit SportsAttractions•Annual Polo Tournaments•Angling•Trekking Hiking•Mountaineering

Future Potentials•Construction of grounds\courts for other sports•Increasing Participation in Polo and publicizing it

Kalash ValleyAttractions•A primitive Pagan tribe Kair Kalash whose origins are not clearly known•Festivals like Chilimjusht (spring), Phool (September) and Chowa •Traditional Clothes Music And Dances•Hand-made Ornaments•Local decoration pieces usually made out of coconut shells

Future Potentials•Promotion of culture•Development of proper infra structure and tour guide system

LahoreAttractions•Tomb of Allama Iqbal, Jehangir, Noor Jehan, Qutub-ud-din Aibak and Tomb of Asif Khan • 13 Gates of Lahore including Moti Gate, Sheranwala Gate etc•Shrine of Hz Data Ganj Bakhsh•Badshahi Mosque, Moti Mosque, Wazir Khan’s Mosque, Sunehri Mosque•Hiran Minar, Changa Manga, Shalimar Gardens, Bagh-e-Jinnah, Model Town Park, Iqbal Park etc•Museums including Lahore Museum, Mughal Museum etc•Bazars including Anar kali, Liberty etc•Lahore zoo•Wagha Border (Inluding annual festivals)•Punjab University

Future Potential•Lahore city and surrounding cities such as Faisalabad and Sheikupura where package tours can be offered along with development of a cultural trail around Lahore city as well as extended tours to surrounding rural areas.

MultanAttractions•Fort•Mausoleum of Rukn-i-Alam •The Mausoleum of Shams-ud-Din•Museum•Festivals•Shopping

Future Potential•Creating an environment for tourism •Managing the areas which attract tourist most

Buddhist Remains Attractions• Takht-i-Bhai• Swat• Taxila• Museums • Prehistoric Remains• Attraction for Buddhists • History of many great leaders like Asoka• Mankiala Stupa

Future Potential• Proper care of remains and ruins• Establishment as an open air Museum • Facilities to attract tourists other than budhists or Archeologists

We Hope that this presentation covers the major tourism sites in

Pakistan and clearly describes their future potential. However before any

future progress is made the most important thing is that all Pakistani’s

learn to appreciate and give importance to our cultural and

natural heritage as something is appreciated by others only if it is

appreciated by the owner.

Bibliography• www.tourism.gov.pk/  • Google images