Nathiagali - a scenic hill spot where an influx of tourists and mountaineers enjoy the mesmerising beauty of Galiyat valleys with fresh cool breezes taking them into a state of ecstasy.
Amid hide and seek between sun and clouds with moderate to erratic rainfalls over snow-clad mountains peaks of Mukshpuri and Miranjani on western Himalayan hills in Abbottabad, Nathiagali has attracted thousands of tourists who enjoy its breathtaking natural beauty, spectacular landscapes, cool weather where winter season is around the corner.
Ayubia-Nathiagali, Donga Gali-Ayubia and Mukshpuri Top are the most frequented sites where local guides and horse riders are seen moving around to make a quick buck. A substantial number of tourists along with families have been seen on fast-moving swings and Ayubia chairlift amid thrill and excitement.
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Unscrupulous hotel and restaurant owners are fully exploiting the situation by fleecing tourists amidst the closure of PDTC motels and shortage of accommodation at Nathiagali and adjoining scenic resorts.
Private hotel owners charge Rs5,000 to Rs8000 per room per night while hotel owners charge Rs15,000 to Rs20,000 from each tourist for a single room per night as the local administration has failed to enforced government-sanctioned rates.
“No hill station carries more natural and mountainous beauty in the world than Nathiagali where tourists are being heavily charged these days,” said Engr Khushal Khan, a resident of Dir Lower district while talking to APP at Nathiagali.
He added that such high charges by private hotels could negatively impact the total intake of tourists to scenic sites of Nathiagali, Ayubia, Dongali, Harnoi, Bagnotar and Thandiani. But now one can hope for ameliorating the situation of accommodation problem following the government’s decision to construct a state-of-the-art five-star hotel at Nathiagali with an estimated cost of $25 million.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has recently performed the ground-breaking of a five-star hotel at Nathiagali that, after completion, would provide accommodation facilities to foreign and domestic tourists at an affordable rate.
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The Galiyat Development Authority and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government would provide land for construction of the five-star hotel to the investor on lease at a prime location in Nathiagali, which is being visited by millions of tourists every year. Because of the government’s pro-tourism policies, a record 2.77 million tourists visited Swat, Chitral, Nathiagali Abbottabad, Kaghan and Naran during vacations of Eidul Azha, said Latifur Rehman, a spokesperson KP Tourism Department.
The spokesperson said that over 1.5 million tourists and adventure sports lovers visited Swat, one million Galiyat, 1,20,000 Kumrat Dir Upper, 7,20,000 Kaghan, Naran and 50,000 Chitral through about 7,20,000 vehicles during Eid holidays.
“These tourism activities in large scale generated wealth in K-P where over Rs66 billion businesses were made and Rs27 billion earned by local people only from tourism during the three holidays of Eidul Azha.
To address the problem of accommodation and control overcharging by hotels in far-flung scenic areas, he said the K-P government had planned a unique “stay home” project to bolster tourism and adventure sports in the province. He said loans on easy terms and conditions from the Bank of Khyber would be provided to people of tourist areas for construction of at least one quality room as per government design, where all basic facilities would be provided to tourists for a comfortable stay.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2021.
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