Pakistan — safe to visit

The World Economic Forum has done Pakistan no favours with the publication of its Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report that ranks the country fourth on a list of the 20 most dangerous countries in the world to visit. Page 269 of the 387-page report gives a breakdown of the ‘country and economic profile’ ranked against a standard range of indicators and Pakistan does indeed score poorly in the majority of instances — but a headline such as that ranking Pakistan in terms of ‘danger’ tells but a small part of the story.

Placing context around recent events — 7 of the 8 people murdered in London in the most recent attack were ‘foreigners’, either resident or visitors to the capital. Many of the injured were tourists as well. Despite a close search of violence involving tourists in Pakistan in the last 12 months we are unable to find a single instance where a tourist has been intentionally killed or injured in the course of their stay.

Almost without exception tourist ‘hotspots’ nationally are reporting an upswing in foreign and domestic visitors, with Gilgit and surrounding areas at one point in 2016 having more visitors than it had bed-nights for. Recent visitors to Hunza have reported — and been widely published nationally and internationally — that they had trouble-free visits. Historical restrictions on visits to Gilgit-Baltistan have been removed. After years in the doldrums tourism in Pakistan is on an upswing despite an infrastructure that is long overdue for an overhaul.

There are places in Pakistan where it is unsafe to visit. They are well-known to the tourist industry and visitors diverted from them. The security services are likewise careful not to allow visitors to stray into unsafe areas. But a truth rarely acknowledged is that most of the country is safe for local and foreign travellers to move around in. It is also true that Pakistan is extremely poor at a governmental and institutional level at promoting itself as a brand, allowing headline writers to determine the narrative rather than aggressively marketing what ought to be a premier destination. Pakistan — a country that is much safer than a cheap headline would have the world believe.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2017.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.