PAKISTAN has deserts, beaches and some of the world’s highest, most stunning mountains. We have plenty of religious, cultural and heritage sites too. These are not just related to the Mughal and British eras. Our history goes back thousands of years, and we have the sites to show for it. Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Taxila are excellent examples but there are many others. Baba Nanak was born and has his resting place in what is now Pakistan. But we do very poorly in tourism.

I recently came to Turkey for a trip. The contrast could not be greater. It is estimated that Turkey received around $40 billion in the first nine months of 2023 through tourism. Seeing the place one can believe that. It was simple to get the online visa that was granted an hour after the application. Immigration formalities took two minutes in Istanbul. The officer asked no questions; she just checked our visas and let us proceed. The green channel took care of Customs and we were outside in five minutes.

Though few people know English here, they are extremely welcoming. If you ask someone for help, they usually go out of their way to help. Shopkeepers are the same. People can dress any way they like. On the same street, you see men in T-shirts and shorts and in traditional dress, and women in the shortest possible skirt and others in black burqas and face-covering hijabs. Nobody asks questions, nobody stares, nobody makes individual space and individual choices an issue. Even though Turkey is a Muslim-majority country, the public space is completely open to men and women.

At about 35 per cent, the female labour force participation rate is low in Turkey, compared to developed countries, but is still a lot higher than the 22pc or so in Pakistan. And it shows: women are visible in all shops, restaurants and places of business. Formal labour market participation in the larger cities might be higher than in the smaller cities or rural areas, but it shows in how public spaces are structured and how they provide a more open and welcoming environment for all, irrespective of gender, in shops, etc.

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The contrast with Pakistani bazaars, even those that sell products mostly bought by women, could not be starker.

Police presence in tourist areas is very visible but neither at the airport nor on the streets do you see automatic-toting guards. And there are no gun-holding guards outside every bank or shop.

The heritage sites are very well maintained and the surrounding areas have been developed for tourism (food, banks, money exchanges, and all sorts of shops). Renovation work goes on almost all the time. There is a wing of the Blue Mosque that is being renovated even now. Contrast this to the state of our heritage sites. Though in the middle of the city, most of Lahore Fort tells a story of neglect and lack of care. I remember an archaeologist once telling our A-Level class long ago that they do not get enough money so they have allowed many parts of the Fort to crumble and are maintaining just a small area in reasonable condition.

Getting a visa for Pakistan still takes a long time and sometimes a lot of effort. Though visa reforms have been in the works for some time, government and other sites still say it takes seven to 10 working days to get a tourist visa. Then foreigners need several NOCs for visiting areas in the north of Pakistan. Whatever the rules, sometimes foreigners have not been allowed to enter even cantonment areas. Once when we had some foreigners coming, we had a person from an intelligence agency come around and ask us to give a ‘guarantee’ in writing of their safety while they would be in Pakistan. On asking if this was not the job of law-enforcement agencies, the person was not amused. The security lens for looking at everyone who comes to Pakistan will need to change.

Our infrastructure, at least at the moment, cannot support significant tourist numbers. We do not have public transport in the larger cities (can you name any notable tourist destination city of a certain size that does not have a good public transport system in place?); we do not have the hotels, restaurants, cafes and public spaces needed to make tourists spend their time and money in; and we definitely do not have the mindset needed for tourism. These are things that a Special Investment Facilitation Council cannot fix.

It bears repeating that most people working in tourism in Turkey do not have very developed English-language skills. But language is not a barrier to tourism. Eighty-five per cent of the tourists are foreigners. The availability of alcohol is not the issue either. Though alcohol is legal in Turkey and anyone over 18 years of age can buy and drink it, most tourists come from countries where alcohol is legal as well. This is not what brings them to Turkey.

We keep saying Pakistan has so much potential for so many things. It is true. With 250 million people how could we not have potential? But there is hardly any area in which we are performing even close to our potential. It is the same with tourism. We have the heritage, culture and sites that could be dream destinations for millions. But we do not have the infrastructure to support tourism at any significant level. Even if infrastructure is built, the bigger problem is the mindset. Unless the thinking of the people in government and society changes, unless we become a much more open and welcoming society and embrace service orientation, we will not become a desirable tourist destination. Whatever else we might try. Given our current social, political and economic situation, mindset change seems farfetched. Our potential will remain just that: potential. n

The writer is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives, and an associate professor of economics at Lums.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2023