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Quake destroys hotel industry in NWFP

ISLAMABAD: The hotel industry in four northern districts of the NWFP has been destroyed by the earthquake says an initial survey report prepared by the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), a PTDC official told Daily Times on Saturday.

According to the initial report, some 104 hotels were surveyed and out of them 60 have been completely destroyed in the earthquake, while the rest are damaged.

The survey was carried out in districts of Mansehra, Balakot, Batagram, Besham and their valleys, including Kaghan, Naran, Shugran. Balakot district, Kaghan and Shugran valleys have suffered the worst losses, including 20 employees of different hotels. The report said 20 hotels had been destroyed in Balakot and Kaghan Valley and 24 in Shugran Valley. According to the PTDC estimates only 20 hotels with 100 percent damages had caused losses of Rs 177.45 million.

Sources said the initial report would be submitted to the ministry where the engineer department would then analyse and give the final estimate of the damages. Many hotels belonged to private owners, some were owned by the PTDC and were given to the private sector on lease and others were being run by the PTDC itself.

The report revealed that the hotel industry would take two years to be revive and host tourists. “Situation is the same in Azad Jammu and Kashmir which also suffered a similar intensity of damage in Muzaffarabad and Neelum and Jhelum Valleys,” the official said. The other two districts hit by the earthquake are Rawalakot and Bagh. He said the people of the area would also suffer in the long term because 60 percent of the income of these areas was from tourism. zulfiqar ghuman

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