Pakistan administrated or in other words Azad (Independent) Kashimir has seen surge in the local tourist arrivals this year. According to the government of Kashmir a historical record number of tourist have come this year to see the beauty of Kashimir.
Director of Kashmir tourism in Muzafarabad, Irshad Perzada told the newsmen that due to peace on the line of controll in the last few years the tourists have been attracted to this region, on the other hand the government has also initiated a campaign to attract tourists to Pakistani Kashimir. According to him compared to last year there has been an increase of 300% tourists this year.
These tourists are only Pakistani tourists as only Pakistani nationals can visit Kashmir without any permits for foreigners desiring to visit this region a special permission is required which is issued in Islamabad. This permit if granted allows foreigners to visit Kashimir with a condition that they will not travel to line of control closer than 8 kilometres.
According to Mr. Irshad the Kashmir tourism has taken up this issue with the authorities in Islamabad but every department has its own peculiar reasons for such restrictions, however when the new tourism policy will be formed we hope this restriction for foreign tourists will be eased.
There is a lot to see in Kashmir region for tourists. If tourism is paid attention this region can proper and can produce huge potential of revenues for the area.
