By S A J Shirazi
Traveling whirls you around, turns you upside down and stands everything you took for granted on its head.
![]("http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3729/lifeinthar8kb.jpg")
We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again — to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.
The beauty of this whole process was best described, perhaps, before people even took to frequent flying, by George Santayana in his lapidary essay, "The Philosophy of Travel." We "need sometimes," the Harvard philosopher wrote, "to escape into open solitudes, into aimlessness, into the moral holiday of running some pure hazard, in order to sharpen the edge of life, to taste hardship, and to be compelled to work desperately for a moment at no matter what."
I believe Pakistan is one of the best travel destinations in the world–desert expanses in Thar and Cholistan, Lush green plains in Punjab, mighty mountains in Northern Pakistan and Chitral; so many unexplored and "just to yourself" places. And also great urban centers like historic Lahore. The beginnings of world history can still be traced down to Pakistan – Indus Civilization. Moreover, Pakistan being one of the cheapest countries in the world is a great deal for budget travelers.
S A J Shirazi is a Lahore (Pakistan) based writer. (See more at Shirazi’s blog ‘Light Within’).
NFTA VARIES ITS MARKETING PITCH DIRECT MAIL, FREE COUPONS USED BY AUTHORITY IN CAMPAIGN see here free coupons by mail
The Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY) February 9, 1995 | KEVIN COLLISON – News Staff Reporter More than 4,500 households in northeast Buffalo are getting a boxful of goodies from the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.
The boxes are part of a sophisticated new marketing campaign using census data and computer programs. Each little box contains a free Metro Rail ride and eight discount coupons for downtown restaurants and entertainment events.
The brown, yellow and orange cartons with the $1.10 token rattling inside are the most colorful aspect of a three-month-old direct mail effort intended to lure more riders on Metro Rail and Metro Bus.
“As opposed to using a shotgun approach, we’re now matching the individual service to the most likely user,” said Robert Rakoczy, NFTA marketing director.
The transportation authority recently acquired the computer software that allows it to identify addresses of potential passengers who live near bus lines, or in the case of the box promotion, Metro Rail stations.
The marketing effort began in November when 4,000 households within one-quarter mile of the Route 32-Amherst bus received brochures about expanded service. The ability to create a mailing list from a bus route that winds from Buffalo State College to the Thruway Mall was made possible by the new software.
Rakoczy said the census reveals where potential customers live, for example people without cars, commuters and working women between the ages of 25 and 35. That information, coupled with postal and other marketing data, generates the mailing list.
Another brochure is being mailed to 6,300 households in a corridor along the express bus path from downtown Buffalo to East Aurora and Holland, Route 70-71. Mailings also are planned to potential customers living near a new Route 41 that goes crosstown from Southgate Plaza to the South Campus station, and to inform people about expanded service on Routes 5 and 42.
In addition to the direct mailings, the NFTA is putting up posters in businesses along the new routes and buying advertisements in community newspapers that circulate in the area.
The new marketing campaign has cost about $20,000 so far, with about half of the budget going to the box promotion to homes within a half-mile of the South Campus and LaSalle Metro Rail stations. website free coupons by mail
The NFTA plans to spend another $30,000 in this year’s budget for the direct mail campaign, Rakoczy said.
The authority already has seen enough success from the November effort geared to Route 32 to cover the costs of that mailing. Ridership on the route is up 2 to 3 percent, said Dan Gajewski, transit product manager.
Rakoczy said the NFTA keeps statistics on each route’s profitability and uses that information to decide which bus line could benefit from direct marketing.
KEVIN COLLISON – News Staff Reporter
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Yes, we have some amazing places in Pakistan which we fail to appreciate ourselves.
From non-Pakistani friends who have traveled in Pakistan, I often hear that the logistics are terrible, even if the locations are absolutely gorgeous. They also complain about a sense of lack of security, and women do not feel very welcome traveling or touring. Also, people want to learn as much about culture and people, as they want to look at mountains, valleys or human constructions – that is where my friends think India takes an edge. They almost invite you to live with them – the pooja, the yoga and all the rest….
I think the security situation is one of the main reasons why people are hesistant to visit. We do have alot to offer, especially in the northern areas. Not many countries can claim to have 5 of the worlds 14 tallest mountains…..
Seems right on target. Pakistan just announced relaxed visa rules to encourage tourism.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7598_1732457,00 0500020000.htm
Surely problems such as Pakistan’s negative image, realistic security problems, poverty and a weak tourism department is to be blamed, but the private sector also has to encourage foreign tourists. Take the example of “Ski Dubai” an indoor skiing slope withing a mall in Dubai, where people from all over the middle east go, or Thailand’s beach resorts or Theme Parks. There are people in Pakistan who have millions and millons of Dollars, but are stupid enough to not invest into ideas like these and only invest in barren real estate (to expand the city of Lahore ofcourse in either direction of the Raivand Rd). Media in Pakistan is getting stronger and stronger and in countries like Pakistan where people dont have other sources of entertainment, the media is followed like Gods word. What I am leading to is maybe the Major media-houses like GEO or ARY Group need to start a show like “The Apprentice” where people bring new ideas on the table and are given a shot to put it together into a success.
For tourism into Pakistan, we should not only look at the West but towards the east and the North and the South of us as well. If you build a world class resort city where you have beaches and Theme Parks, dont you think one percent of Indias population would visit (10 Million people) or people from the former Soviet Republics or Bangalis, or Sri Lankans or people from the Millde East ?
One way of looking at the things is that let us not compare. Every place is a unique experience, logistics and other support infrastructure included. My recommendation: Indulge yourself and “be there, do thatâ€
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people who are not Pakistani want to travel Pakistan for culture and people, and they always want to look at mountains, valleys which is very beautiful in Pakistan but now a days people have fear because of security.