As security concerns subside, Pakistan’s tourism portal attracts traffic

China’s Alibaba also invited Find My Adventure for eFounders Fellowship

KARACHI: A start-up named Find My Adventure, which is focused on making tourism easier for those who love to explore Pakistan, has started meeting some success by drawing an increasing number of travellers to the portal.

Find My Adventure was among the five start-ups invited by China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba for the second eFounders Fellowship, a joint initiative of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) and Alibaba Business School. This fellowship has been designed to train 1,000 entrepreneurs in developing countries.



Pakistan’s tourism industry has started thriving with a marked improvement in security situation over the past few years following a military operation against militants.

“Direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP (gross domestic product) was Rs930.9 billion - 2.9% of GDP - in 2017 and is forecast to rise by 5.9% in 2018 and by 5.8% per annum from 2018-28 to Rs1,727.7 billion, 3% of GDP,” said the World Travel and Tourism Council.



The portal went online on July 31, 2016 and facilitated 750 travellers in the initial four months. The number has now crossed 4,500, a 500% growth in less than two years.

“Owing to the largely fragmented nature of the domestic tourism market, potential tourists miss out on available activities, trips and tours due to an information mismatch,” said Komail Abbas Naqvi, Co-founder of Find My Adventure.

“Additionally, there is no reliable online marketplace where potential tourists can browse, review and book trips conveniently. We facilitate travellers by addressing these issues.”



The company offers a readymade trip anywhere in Pakistan - from the shores of Arabian Sea to the Karakoram, Himalayas and Hindu Kush ranges in the north.

If travellers want a trip customised according to their specific needs, the company provides completely customised experiences as well.

In order to draw people to the industry, the start-up has set up a helpline to help even those who have not booked a trip through the portal.

“There are problems faced by tour operators and Find My Adventure provides solutions for them. There is no all-encompassing booking platform to list tourism services in the region and, as such, vendors struggle to efficiently market their offerings,” said another Co-Founder Husnain Habib Malik.

“Additionally, tour operators do not have efficient systems to manage bookings, collect payments and tap into a wider market through consistent branding and outreach. We facilitate tour operators by addressing all these issues.”

He called FindMyAdventure.pk Pakistan’s first online domestic tourism marketplace.

“We are aiming to homogenise Pakistan’s tourism industry and bridge the gap between vendors and consumers through our two-sided business model that serves as a one-stop shop for anyone wishing to explore Pakistan,” he said.

Last year, Pakistan saw an inflow of 1.75 million foreign tourists, a more than three-time increase over the number recorded in 2013. In the same year, domestic tourists who travelled to different parts of Pakistan numbered around 38 million, an increase of 30%.

Seeing growth potential in the tourism sector, Naqvi suggested that the government should enforce stringent environmental laws to protect natural resources and provide funding for public awareness campaigns.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2018.

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