In one year, 100,000 tourists Sightsee Lahore

Plan to expand the increasingly popular tour service by importing vehicles

LAHORE: As a city, Lahore has plenty to offer and tourists have been taking in the sights and sounds aboard double-decker buses over the last year. The initiative, rather aptly called Sightseeing Lahore, has completed its first year.

The Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) has already acquired three more buses to expand the operation. New buses are expected to reach Lahore in January after which 325 passengers can be shown around the city in one go.



TDCP spokesman said Sightseeing Lahore has become a new attraction for visitors, tourist and locals alike. The corporation has arranged sightseeing tours for around 100,000 people over the last year, including local and foreign tourists, schoolchildren as well as corporate clients.

The service has risen in popularity; proof of which is the fact that schoolchildren from Karachi, Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan have been lining for a ride on the double-decker buses. The spokesman said the corporation was getting numerous inquiries over the service from different parts of the country. TDCP has hosted a large number of tourists from Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar.



After inducting more buses, the corporation will increase the frequency of tours. There are proposals to add new routes to Sightseeing Lahore, although a final decision is yet to be made.

The corporation started Sightseeing Lahore after evaluating similar services in cities like London, Dubai and Budapest. The two buses initially imported are tailor made and have the capacity to accommodate 67 passengers each. The vehicles are equipped with a public address system so that guides can talk the tourists can talk the passengers through the sites.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2016.