Process of identification: 480 tourism sites geotagged in Punjab

TDCP MD stresses need for facilities at tourist destinations

LAHORE: The Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) has geotagged over 480 existing and potential tourism sites across Punjab.

TDCP Managing Director Ahmer Malik told The Express Tribune the corporation, under the ‘Identification of Potential Areas for Promotion of Tourism’ programme, developed a comprehensive database that could be accessed at www.tdcp.gop.pk.

The corporation has classified tourism sites in different categories such as religious, heritage and cultural etc to cater to different interests.

The database location maps, pictures, historic and cultural information, estimated tourist count and available facilities at tourism sites, he revealed.

The database was designed by the Pakistan Environmental Planning and Architectural Consultants (PEPAC) after a detailed survey. PEPAC also proposed a number of interventions for policymakers to improve existing sites and develop new ones across Punjab.

It also identified suitable places for recreational activities on the basis of connectivity and other essential facilities. It took almost six months to gather data from the field and design the database.

Data available on the site shows the corporation had documented existing tourism sites, including 41 potential /explored, 132 historical, 27 cultural, 119 religious, 188 recreational and 18 unexplored tourism sites in the database.

The data shows the Rawalpindi division has the highest number (85) of documented tourism sites, followed by Lahore division with 82 tourism sites. It shows Sargodha division has 45 sites, Faisalabad division 46, Gujranawala division 50, Dera Ghazi Khan division 56, Multan division 44, Sahiwal division 23 and Bahawalpur division 46.

Data showed Lahore City has as many as 57 tourism sites which make the provincial capital the best tourism destination of Pakistan.

These sites include Lahore Fort, Minar-e-Pakistan, Iqbal Tomb, Jillani Park, Lahore Zoo, Bagh Jinnah, Data Darbar, Anarkali Bazaar, Lahore Railway Station and Masjid Ibrahim.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2016.