Tourist influx into Pak reduced considerably after Raymond Davis episode
By ANISunday, February 27, 2011
PESHAWAR - The influx of tourists into Pakistan has reduced considerably following the Raymond Davis episode, in which the CIA agent killed two Pakistani men in Lahore on January 27.
A study of global travel sites reveals that despite untiring efforts of Pakistani travel agents and professional guides to lure in foreign tourists into the country, a visible tightening of the national visa policy has halted the flow of a good number of prospective travellers of late, The News reports.
Browsing through the global travel forums hosting discussions about Pakistan, one finds that prior to tightening of the visa policy, a huge number of American and European tourists used to secure their entry permits from the Pakistani diplomatic missions in India, Nepal, Tehran, UAE and Turkey etc, with great ease and without much ado.
Under the new visa policy, most foreign tourists (except a few cases) will now have to seek the Pakistani visa from their respective countries of origin.
It is noteworthy that countries like North Korea have always treated both journalists and ordinary travellers with suspicion that a few of them crossing over from China might well be on reconnaissance missions or deputed on tasks to perform preliminary surveys, which are normally undertaken with the sole aim to collect certain information. (ANI)
