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Tourists resorts of Chitral brimming with tourists after many years

By Zahiruddin

CHITRAL: Tourism has started to sprout in Chitral valley after many years as more number of tourists are being seen here after the Shandur festival which had attracted unprecedented number of tourists. A number of people associated with the industry told chitraltimes.com that the tourists resorts of Chitral are now brimming with tourists in Kalash valleys and Garam Chashma. A tour operator Shahid Ali said that he has been informed about the arrival of more than a dozen teams of tourists only for the month of August. He recalled that last year, he had received only one foreign and two local groups of tourists. A hotel manager in the city said that all the rooms of his hotel are occupied by tourists since the early days of July this year and a good number of tourists are making advanced booking before reaching here. Telling the miserable condition of the last three years, he said that he had to lay off more than eleven waiters of his hotel due to the collapse of the industry. He said that hardly one or two rooms of his hotel used to be occupied during the season and this influx of the tourists had rendered thousands of stake holders of tourism industry jobless. No room was reportedly available in a public sector hotel of the city during the days of Shandur festival. The owner of a tour operating agency Rahmat Baig said that the tourism industry used to engage more three thousand people directly or indirectly and the low ebb of the tourists influx to the area had affected them. He said that a large number of people had switched over to other fields to earn their livelihood while a number of hotels in the Kalash valley of Bumburate faced closure. He said that although Chitral remained as peaceful and tranquil as before but the tense situation in the neighbouring districts of Swat, Buner and Dir did not allow the tourists to come here. He said that the linkage of Chitral with Gilgit Baltistan via Shandur Pass will give a boost to the promotion of tourism with the completion of Mastuj suspension bridge. He was of the opinion that a tourist visiting Chitral wants to see the Gilgit area as well and vice versa and the direct road link was an impediment for want of suspension bridge at Mastuj in upper Chitral. No expedition team has yet arrived here to scale the mighty peaks of Hindukush situated in Chitral including Terichmir (7726 metres), he said and added that on average five foreign teams used to throng here annually since 1950s. He said that the expedition teams employed large number of people for different jobs and considerably for longer period. He urged the concerned ministry to issue clearance to the teams for the next year as situation is all-peaceful to receive them.