Local tourists throng mountainous regions after rise in mercury

Over 15,000 to 20,000 local tourists have been visiting the mountainous areas of Murree, Kaghan Valley and other popular tourist spots on daily basis due to rising temperature in different parts of the country.
With the start of summer vacations, families and youngsters belonging to warm areas have started moving to mountainous regions that include Queen of Hills – Murree, Nathiagali, Ayubia, Kaghan Valley, Naran and Azad Kashmir as main focus. The tourist season will remain on peak till August 10 I nMurree, Ayubia and Nathiagali while those who want to explore more greenery, lakes, rivers and picturesque landscapes of mountains are over 4,000 on daily basis in Naran and their number will reach around20,000 tourists per day before Ramazan, said Tayyab Mir, manager,publicity and promotion, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), on Wednesday.
The domestic tourists consider Murree and Nathiagali as most accessible tourist spot while Kaghan Valley is serving as a hot cake to those having urge for exploring more spots to spend summer vacations, he told APP. From last few years, the movement of foreign tourists has been reduced due to security situation and floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while the visa policy and requirement of NOC to visit KPK keeps them away from Kaghan Valley, he said.
The PTDC is also offering seasonal bus service from Rawalpindi to Naran on daily basis from the first week of June for three months that takes visitors to popular spots while the motels of PTDC welcome them with all facilities. Through reasonable travelling rates, establishment of information centres and easy reservation procedures, the bus service attracts maximum tourists and additional services are given on weekends. “With advancement in technologies, people have developed interest in visiting and exploring new places during their vacations.
The movement of more than 50 million people has been witnessed for tourism purposes across the country annually,” hesaid. For tourists, mountains are considered as the place for leisure activities. People admire the beauty of these areas for the reasons of the climate and clean air, beautiful scenery, local traditions and simple lifestyles.