By Raza Khan ISLAMABAD, Nov 05 (INP-WealthPK): With the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions in Pakistan, summer tourism has picked up this year with an estimated annual increase of 10 percent compared to 2019. Year 2020 was a nightmare for tourism due to the killer pandemic when this sector fell down around 70 percent in Pakistan and around the globe. According to 2019's data available with Board of Investment Pakistan, the contribution of travel and tourism to GDP was 5.9 percent of total economy, while the contribution of travel and tourism to employment was 6.2 percent of total jobs. The impact of international visitors was $852.2 million. In 2019, 3881.9 million people were associated with the travel and tourism industry. Data provided by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA) shows that this summer tourists visited different resorts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa spending Rs 58.44 billion. KPCTA spokesperson Latifur Rehman told WealthPK that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is endowed with attractive summer stations with lakes, snow-capped mountains, rivers and green valleys. He said during the Eidul Adha vacations in July, a total of 3.11 million tourists travelled to the beautiful valleys of the province within a week boding well for summer tourism. Latif said 1.5 million tourists visited Swat Valley, 0.12 million Galyat, 0.72 million Kumrat, 0.05 million Kaghan and Naran and 0.72 million Chitral in one week during the Eid days. According the statistics, a total of 3.896 million people visited valleys of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during summer till September 30 including 1.87 million tourists visiting Swat, 0.182 million Galyat, 0.83 million Kumrat, 0.104 million Kaghan and Naran and 0.92 million Chitral. "After the government relaxed Covid-19 restrictions, tourism in the summer season flourished remarkably," Latif said. He added that the businessmen associated with tourism suffered Rs 10 billion losses last year due to the corona restrictions imposed by the government. Latif said tourists spent Rs 58.44 billion in total visiting different valleys in KP, with each tourist spending approximately Rs 15,000. He said better hotel and hospitality services, improved infrastructure and road network are among key factors attracted tourists. He said the construction of Hazara and Swat Motorways had facilitated tourists' access to various places like Naran, Swat and Hunza. Mukhtar Ahmed, spokesperson for Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), told Wealthpk that summer tourism shares 70% of the total tourism volume in Pakistan. "More people opted for tourism related jobs in 2021 and the number went well above. Most domestic tourists travel to the Northern Areas during summer to escape the scorching heat of southern areas.” He said Pakistan ranked as the world's best venture travel country back in 2018 adding that social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok had also played an important role in promoting tourism by introducing the beautiful valleys to the people of Pakistan and abroad. Mukhtar said summer tourist spots in Pakistan like Murree, Kaghan, Swat, Galyat, Hunza and Skardu were packed most of the time, especially on weekends. He added that people could not travel to these areas last year due to the lockdown restrictions. "People were eager to go out with their families and friends this time," he added. Mukhtar said the actual data of summer tourism in all the provinces would be compiled next month; however, rough estimates indicated an increase in the number of tourists. Prime Minister Imran Khan is optimistic that Pakistan has great potential in tourism and it can improve the country's economy. He has always emphasized the exploration of more avenues in the tourism sector in a bid to generate more revenue.