Gilgit / Kashgil News
A crucial emergency meeting of the Gilgit-Baltistan Hotel Association in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan was held at the Awari Express Hotel, Gilgit, in which the government’s attempt to impose new taxes on the hotel industry was rejected outright.
The members said in the meeting that tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan is currently on the verge of collapse, while the law and order situation is also becoming increasingly worrisome due to tensions and war situations between the US, Israel and Iran. The hotel industry is facing a severe shortage of basic amenities like electricity, water and gas, which has made it extremely difficult to run a business.
The members expressed serious concerns that the continuous cancellation of PIA flights, an almost 100 percent increase in petrol and diesel prices, and an unprecedented increase in transport and air fares have almost eliminated the influx of tourists.
Moreover, tourists have to face a long, dangerous and difficult journey on the Karakoram Highway to reach Gilgit from Islamabad, which has become a major obstacle in the promotion of tourism.
The press release further said that in such critical circumstances, the imposition of new provincial taxes on hotels, restaurants, transport companies, factories and other small businesses is tantamount to making millions of people associated with tourism unemployed and this move will cause further economic burden on the poor people.
The meeting strongly condemned the steps taken by the Excise and Taxation Department Gilgit-Baltistan to harass hotel owners and demanded immediate suspension of the orders implementing the application of taxes.
Furthermore, the Gilgit-Baltistan Hotel Association has demanded the government to provide special facilities to bring tourists to Gilgit-Baltistan from China, abolish the complex NOC system and relax the policy to promote border tourism so that international tourism can be restored.
The Gilgit-Baltistan Hotel Association has strongly demanded from the government that in view of the current economic crisis, immediate relief be provided to those associated with the tourism sector, new taxes be withdrawn, and loans on easy terms be ensured so that this important industry can be saved from complete destruction.
Share this content:
