GB tourism witnesses criticism over delay in permits

Friday, July 15, 2022

For majority of foreign trekkers, the K-2 base camp trek is the most preferred hike as they get to explore Gasherbrum-I, Baltoro Glacier, Gasherbrum-II, K-2 base camps from Concordia and Broad Peak.

But, recently tourists along travel agents have protested that they didn’t get the permits issued by the department even after they had fulfilled all the pre-requisites.

Ghulaam Ahmed, a tour operator explained that the department was unwilling to issue trekking permits. He also said that tourists had been waiting for over a month to acquire the permission of trekking in the base camp area. The long holdup in getting permit approval has compelled many tourists to call off their plans as well, he added.

Of late, around 10 tourists from foreign countries who had visited Pakistan for the K-2 base camp trek have got back disheartened after they didn’t get the permits; for the tour operators, such incidents are embarrassing at the same time as they failed to serve the demands of their clients, he added.

The head of Adventure Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Nagri, informed Dawn that the family of deceased Gerfried Goschl, Austrian climber, who died in 2012 on Gasherbrum-I, was awaiting to receive the permit of trekking in Skardu so that they could explore the base camp of Gasherbrum-I and pay their tribute to the loving memory of the deceased mountaineer.

Goschl’s wife along with her daughters wanted to visit the place to mark 10 years of the death of their father.

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