ISLAMABAD, Jan 8 (APP): With the onset of snowy season, a number of tourists from across the country have started visiting the hilly areas of the country to enjoy the enhanced beauty of nature during snowfall.
Despite biting cold, a great rush of tourists was witnessed on Sunday at popular tourism destinations including Murree, Malamjaba, Kalam, Naran, Kaghan, Swat, Hunza, Ziarat, Chitral and Kashmir, like every year.
A large number of families have planned to visit these areas with their families to enjoy the picturesque beauty of hilly areas and enjoy snowfall, taking advantage of winter vacations announced by the authorities till January 8.
Chief Executive Karakoram Explorers Mubarak Hussain told APP that number of local as well as international tourists was witnessing significant increase after the first snowfall of the season.
He said that at some destination’s visitors were facing issues related to lodging and increased rates as number of hotels and other businesses had already been closed before the start of the current snowfall spell in November.
He said that taking advantage of the winter vacations, a number of families were visiting tourist destinations but they should ensure safety measures before travel.
He told that Naran-Kaghan road was closed since November 2022, and the only available route to these destinations was Karakoram highway.
He advised the visitors to check weather advisory, road situations and routs before leaving for these destinations.
Salma Kanwal, a mother said that snowfall was the favorite time of our children and they were much excited for playing in snow, making snowman and taking selfies to share with their friends.
She said that Pakistan was very beautiful country with diverse weathers and locations to explore which was a great attraction not only for the local visitors but we also had seen number of international tourists who were visiting these places and enjoying weather.
Ali Raza, a student who is visiting northern areas to enjoy snowfall, said that due to winter vacations and snowfall there was huge rush of visitors in Swat. “Many hotels are already booked and we only can get one room for seven people on double price. He urged the authorities to take serious action against the profiteers are taking advantage of the situation and taking multiply the prices of rooms, food and other facilities.
Keeping in view the weather conditions and increased visitors towards tourist destinations, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) has issued advisory and directed the visitors to adopt precautionary measures to avoid inconvenience and save lives.
According to PTDC, tourist are advised to use extra warm cloths, keep the window of the cars open for fresh air and continually clean snow from the exhaust pipe of vehicles. The tourists are also asked to switch off the engine while standing still and not use heaters for more then ten minutes in an hour.
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