Studies and Documentation on Tourism, Mapping of Historical Hot Spot in Multan Walled City

Abstract

Tourism represents a major economic generator and a labor-intensifying industry for the development and for the economic growth of a country. In accordance with this principle, the Government of Pakistan has officially declared tourism as an industry, formulating new tourism policies. Due to the unique richness of its composite landscape, consolidated over the centuries by the passage of innumerable civilizations and cultures, Pakistan is a country with a very high potential for tourist attraction from all over the world. The first part of the study is focused on the analysis of some significant data and aspects related to the tourism evolution during the last years and up to the present. One of them consists in the existence, in Pakistan, of a unique network of specialized visitors, wanting to visit the country for niche reasons: every city and every place then deserves a particular vocation and identity, becoming the main reference for different kinds of tourists. The investigation of the very unique role that Multan merits within the national touristic framework led to identifying, as its main vocations, the religious and sacred dimension of the place, as well as the significant presence and specialized workforce of local handicrafts. Regarding these particular kinds of tourism vocations, the case of Multan has been compared with other examples of tourism development, also in relationship to international examples: even in their differences, these comparisons have been used as strategic tools for the case of Multan, highlighting the weaknesses, as obstacles to any kind of development of tourism in the country, as well as its points of force, to be increased and reinforced. The second part of this work is focused on the identification of urban development strategies and new scenarios, aimed at revitalizing the historic core of Multan and strengthening the main tourist vocation of the place, highlighting the unique structural characteristics of this city and of its landscape.