Peshawar  -   Caretaker Minister of Tourism, Barrister Feroz Jamal Shah, stated on Saturday that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have welcomed millions of domestic and foreign tourists this year.

“Unlike last year, the number of foreign tourists has decreased this year, probably due to the financial crunch being faced by people across the world. However, the number of domestic tourists has increased this year,” according to data compiled by Police, Lives Officials, and Officials of the District Administration.

This year, 2,546 foreigners visited various tourist places all across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, compared to 2,947 foreigners who visited KP tourist places last year.

Additionally, 9.7 million people from all over the country visited KP this year, compared to 8,859,536 domestic tourists in 2022. Local and foreign tourists visited Galiyat, Dir Upper, Malam Jabba, Chitral Upper and Lower, Kaghan, and Naran.

Caretaker Minister of Tourism Barrister Feroz Jamal Shah stated, “Special measures are being taken for the security of domestic and foreign tourists.” He added, “A special bus service has also been started for the convenience of tourists.” Initially, the bus service has been started for Khanpur Dam, Takhtbhai Ruins, and Peshawar, with plans to extend the service to more tourist spots.

Giving complete data, he said, “208 foreign tourists visited Dir Upper and Dir Lower, and 847 and 5,730 local tourists were recorded in Dir Lower and Dir Upper, respectively. In Malam Jabba, there were 323 foreign tourists and 2,453 and 310 local tourists. Galiyat saw 139 foreign tourists and 2,882,337 local tourists. Chitral Upper had 520 foreign tourists and 31,966 local tourists, while Chitral Lower had 1,090 foreign tourists and 402,690 local tourists.

Kaghan and Naran hosted 266 foreign tourists and 3,080,412 local tourists, with a total of 2,546 foreign and 9,704,325 local tourists.” “The tourist influx data has been recorded through Police Check Posts, Levies Check Posts, Assistant Commissioner’s (ACs) Office, and Field Assistant Directors of KDA and GDA from Jan 1 to Aug 28. In the last year, from Jan 1 to Dec 2022, a total of 2,947 foreign and 8,859,536 local tourists were recorded,” he said.