The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government will not charge registration and licences fees in order to give a relief package of Rs77 million to the tourism industry.

According to reports, the KP Tourism Department has waived off registration fees for hotels and restaurants and license fees for travel agencies and tour operators for one year.

The decision is made due to the adverse economic impact of coronavirus on KP’s tourism industry.

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The statement was issued by the KP Tourism Department after the decision was taken during a meeting of the provincial cabinet on July 21.

Businesses, hotels and restaurants that are not registered or they are new in the industry will also be exempted from paying license fees for one year.

Due to the coronavirus and ban on tourism has caused lose of Rs 12 billion to tourism industry.

For now, the KP government has banned tourist activities in the province until further notice. The decision has been taken in light of the instructions of the Department of Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Similarly, restaurants, rest houses and other tourist spots will also remain closed while seminars, conferences, sports and tourism activities in hotels will also be banned.

The provincial government has handed over 168 rest houses in KP to the Tourism Department intending to promote tourism in the province.

Out of the 168 rest houses, 55 were previously under the Communication and Works Department, 20 were under the Irrigation Department, 21 were under the local government, two were under Police and 70 were under the Forest Department.

The orders for the restoration of these rest houses were issued by the provincial government and after conducting a survey, all the rest houses have now been handed over to the Tourism and Sports Department.