K-P develops new tourist site in Galiyat

Spot is an artificial lake where motorized boats, kayaks, swings and other attractions have been placed

PESHAWAR: As the provincial government strives to open up the province for tourism and push it towards an industrial scale, officials on Sunday said that a new tourist spot is being developed in the tourism magnate region of Galiyat. The difference, however, is that unlike most of the other tourist attractions in the region, this one is not a feat of nature.

Rather, it is a man-made lake in the area.

The government has placed motorized boats and kayaks there apart from setting up tuck shops and constructing basic residential facilities at the lake for foreign and domestic tourists to enjoy.

A report about the measures taken by the provincial government to develop the spot for tourists has been shared with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“We have been working on improving new tourist spots in the Galiyat area,” said Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) Spokesperson Ihsan Hameed while speaking to The Express Tribune.

He added that they have put up swings, rafting boats and other attractions at the artificial lake.

Moreover, in a bid to draw attention to the area, he said that they plan to host new water games there.

Hameed added that the provincial government has allocated a handsome amount in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the development of tourism areas.

He added that information and pictures about the new tourist destination have been shared by PM Imran’s social media accounts as well which is followed by millions of people across Pakistan and the world over.

It is pertinent to mention here that the K-P Tourism Department and the Tourism Corporation of K-P (TCK-P) have been using their resources to develop new tourist spots in the province.

Last week, some 160 government-owned guest houses were handed over to the tourism body of the province so that they can be further rented out to the public through an online portal. Among the government-owned guesthouses handed over to TCK-P include the Governor, Chief Minister, Speaker and Inspector General houses.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2019.