Resilience has become the defining test for Pakistan’s travel and tourism industry. Each monsoon season, as rivers swell and valleys brace for floods and landslides, the sector confronts the realities of a changing climate.

From the peaks of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral to the coastal stretches of Gwadar and Kund Malir, Pakistan’s natural and cultural assets form one of the richest tourism portfolios in South Asia. Yet that same geographic diversity also exposes the industry to recurring natural disasters, fragile infrastructure, and global shifts in traveler expectations.

The 2022 floods were the single largest shock to Pakistan’s tourism economy in modern times. Between June and October, record monsoon rains and accelerated glacial melt submerged nearly a third of the country. More than 33 million people were affected, eight million displaced and large sections of the national highway network destroyed. According to the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) prepared by the government of Pakistan with support from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Union and UNDP, total physical damages were estimated at $14.9 billion, with economic losses reaching $15.2 billion. The cost of reconstruction and rehabilitation was projected at $16.3 billion.

The PDNA also estimated that the private tourism sector losses exceeded Rs4.4 billion (approximately $20.5 million). This included damage to hotels, guesthouses, cultural attractions and supporting infrastructure across multiple provinces. In total, the floods destroyed or damaged more than 13,000 kms of roads and 439 bridges, severing access to many of Pakistan’s most scenic and economically vital destinations. In regions like Swat, Hunza and Neelum Valley, where local economies rely heavily on seasonal tourism, the destruction of a single bridge or road meant months of lost income for small transporters, guides, and hospitality workers.

The crisis highlighted the profound interconnection between tourism and broader national systems of infrastructure, agriculture and communication. When roads collapse or crops fail, the ripple effect........

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