With the advent of Spring and cherry blossom at the picturesque Jewel of Pakistan – Gilgit Baltistan, the tourism season has started to go on peak till summer at the Northern Areas as the trips of tourists have been planned to Hunza, Fairy Meadows, Skardu and Shiger Valley.
Around 1.2 million tourists visited GB last year and this year their number will increase upto to 1.8 to 2 million by the end of September as the visa policy announced by prime minister of Pakistan will attract more tourists from different countries, said an official of Tourism Department at GB while talking to APP.
GB is a major attraction for adventure tourists in winter, Chinese, Korean and Japanese tourists in Spring and domestic tourists in summer. Those adventure and nature lovers living in warm regions of the country multiply in summer as they visit various areas of GB in groups, he said.
For last few years, tourists have shown interest in visiting GB and the government of GB remained successful in attracting people from urban areas, Punjab and Sindh with the support of local communities, improved road network and proper advertising through various events and exhibitions.
The support of local communities encouraged the tourists to promote tourism and ultimately the peace in the region and the soft image created by the local people will go long way and GB is expecting to receive more tourists during the next year.
Those living in Gilgit Baltistan call it as the Jewel of Pakistan, which has the treasures of high peak snowy mountains, fresh water lakes, lush green fairy meadows, gentle breeze, singing birds, strong legacies of art and culture and mosaic of ancient traditions.
Gilgit-Baltistan blessed with matchless geographical features in the world, has collection of some of the highest peaks in the world, with more than 700 peaks above 6000 meters and more than 160 peaks above 7000 meters. This geographical wealth attracts large number of climbers, adventure seekers and nature lovers from home and abroad each year.
The government and private organizations also organize local festivals that play an important role in promoting the cultural heritage and tourism business in Pakistan by making the northern areas as a safe heaven for tourists. The people of GB are also multilingual to facilitate the visitors in selling their local products including handmade traditional household items, precious and semi precious stones, fruits, crops, livestock, local food, arts and crafts.
