Pakistani government officials and private sector experts have been expecting economic growth in this year i.e. 2021. They have predicted that in the second half of the year, from July to December, there will be recovery of the tourism sector to a greater extent.
Ever since Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf came in power, they have been working to take up the tourism sector of Pakistan and their efforts were visible as well, as the number of foreign tourists coming to Pakistan increased by 70% in the year 2018 if we look in comparison to 2017.
Number of factors contributed to this increased incoming tourists including the five days visit of British royal couple; Prince William and Kate Middleton to Pakistan, other than this in January Forbes named Pakistan as the best travel destination. Such things contributed to an increased inflow of foreign tourists in Pakistan.
However in 2020, the tourism sector of Pakistan saw quite a setback as it ran parallel with a global pandemic. Amidst the lockdown and increasing spread of coronavirus, there was international travel ban almost all over the world.
According to Sindh’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, Sardar Ali Shah “The government allowed foreigners and locals to visit the tourists’ spots with full SOPs and social distancing when the spread of the virus came significantly under control during August-September 2020”.
The second wave of coronavirus once again stopped happenings for tourism sector. About the recovery he stated, “My guess is that tourism will normalize with the start of the summer. It will remain affected until June and may recover by 20 to 25 percent during July and December 2021 as the world has also introduced effective vaccines”.
