According to Muhammad Komail Abbas, managing director of GoZayaan Pakistan, despite protracted economic and political unrest, Pakistan’s tourism industry is progressively growing. And a significant number of tourists from abroad are visiting the nation.
A tourism startup from Bangladesh named GoZayaan purchased Pakistan’s FindMyAdventure for $3.5 million last year. Muhammad Komail Abbas, who is now the MD of GoZayaan Pakistan, launched FindMyAdventure.
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GoZayaan assisted approximately 80,000 tourists in Pakistan in its first year, including 12,000 foreigners and 68,000 locals. According to the business, it has invested $20 million in the regional hotel industry. And it has made $4 million in income.
Issues that impact the domestic tourism sector
The sector suffers a lot of difficulties because of problems with the economy, politics, and security that have an effect on how many tourists come to the nation each year.
Attacks by terrorists, bloodshed, and political unrest have led to unfavourable media coverage, making it challenging for Pakistan to draw in foreign tourists.
According to TAAP, Pakistan’s travel and tourism sector is in a dire position.
Inadequate infrastructure, unreliable lodging, a disorganised transit system, and restricted access to essential services all serve to discourage tourists from visiting the nation.
Enhancing tourism
Those connected to the sector claim that despite all of these difficulties, tourism increased when the Covid-19 standards were abandoned.
According to Abbas, who spoke to Business Recorder, “With the devaluation of the rupee, Pakistan is becoming a cheaper alternative for overseas tourists, and as a result, the number of tourists visiting Pakistan is rising every year.”
According to the available data, 85% of tourists are domestic visitors, while 12–15% of tourists are from abroad. Since Covid, there has been an upsurge of international travellers, who were formerly between 5% and 6%.
“When overseas travel grew more expensive as a result of the rupee’s depreciation, domestic tourism increased. Given the current economic climate, travellers prefer to spend in rupees.
Fahd Vohra, CEO of Rocket Tourism, stated that the main driver of the increase in international travel in 2019 has been changes to visa requirements.
According to Vohra, “Because Covid-19 arose shortly after the policy went into place, we couldn’t witness its consequences but as soon as pandemic measures were dropped, there was a big flood of tourists – both domestic and international.”
In the context of rising inflation, tourism growth may slow.
Vohra claimed that while there has been an increasing tendency in tourism, he was now doubtful that this trend will continue given the enormous increase in gasoline prices and inflation.
In the meantime, Abbas added that this will be the first travel season. In which they can accurately assess the impact of inflation on the market.
Many tourists’ trip plans were affected by fuel prices last year, while other cost categories were typically unaffected. The overall impact of inflation is anticipated to affect domestic industry this year. With price increases anticipated for practically every commodity, including food and beverage goods, energy, and gas.
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