Tourism in Pakistan: An Economic Analysis

Abstract

The study aims to explore that as per United Nations Sustainable Development goals’ (2015) targets, the entire world has to bring down its poverty levels from absolute poverty; i.e. people earning less than 2.15 dollars a day as prescribed in September 2022 by World Bank. This paper explores the economic impact of tourism industry in Pakistan to uplift economy to back step its poverty line, focusing the potential of tourism industry as a driver of economic growth and development. The study examines to check impact of certain variables such as travelers, international tourists and employment generation due to Tourist industry influencing its Economics growth, i.e. Gross Domestic Product, and proposes strategies to upgrade tourism industry to foster economic growth of the economy. To analyze data set Time series data is taken from the year 1995 to 2021 from world Development index and Ordinary least square method is applied using E-Views to check the results. Results depict that these variables have significant impact to upgrade economic growth of the country if we enhance tourism sector in Pakistan. The findings underscore the significance of strategic planning, investment, and E-marketing in harnessing the full potential of tourism in Pakistan. Pakistan have privilege to enjoy four seasons being hub of historical places and legacy of Mughal Empires from high peak mountains of Himalaya to the beauty of Kashmir, Desert of Thar to different valleys such as Hunza, Chitral, Rumbur and Leepa and plains, so visitors do have lots of attractions to come and visit Pakistan, now the need is to incorporate Pakistan’s tourism industry with public private partnership to channelize its digital marketing and E bookings as well more financial support is required to maintain its traditional buildings and tourists places.