Capacity Building Workshop held on waste management and sustainable tourism. Naran: World Bank-assisted Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Integrated Tourism Development Project - KITE in collaboration with Nestlé Pakistan, on Thursday, organised a one-day capacity building workshop on solid waste management and sustainable tourism under the TREK program. Travel Responsibly for Experiencing Ecotourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’ (TREK) - is a collaboration between World Bank-assisted KITE project and Nestle to promote responsible tourism for a waste-free future. The workshop aimed at creating awareness about solid waste management practices and recycling initiatives undertaken by TREK.

The workshop vowed to adopt actions to reduce plastic and other waste and shift to recycling processes. Hotels and restaurant owners, hotel staff, travel and tour operators, members from academia, students, public sector tourism managers and others attended the workshop.

Director General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA) Tashfeen Haider, Project Director KITE Project, Touseef Khalid, General Manager KPCTA Sajjad Hameed, President Hotels Association Naran, and officials of Nestle Pakistan, tourism department and KITE Project attended the workshop and addressed the participants. Talking on the occasion, Touseef Khalid, said “TREK is an initiative being implemented in partnership with the World Bank Group and Nestlé Pakistan since 2020.

Under TREK, local area development authorities of Kaghan, Galiyat, Upper Swat, Kumrat and Kalash have been provided with solid waste management equipments and awareness campaigns for tourists and training of local communities on waste management and to promote responsible tourism for a waste-free future at the tourist sites of the province are also conducted in Peshawar, Swat, Abbottabad and Chitral.

DG KPCTA, Tashfeen Haider, emphasizes the importance of promoting Sustainable Tourism and highlights it's significance for the region's development and said "We are delighted that community engagement activities such as waste management training and awareness campaigns as part of TREK initiative for tourism stakeholders and tourists are coming to fruition".

To promote sustainable tourism practices 1500 reusable bags were distributed to KgDA and local Hotel Association by DG KPCTA Tashfeen Haider and PD KITE Project Touseef Khalid.

[Dated: 29 August, 2024]