CPEC Sustainable Development Project: Prospects and Challenges for Gilgit-Baltistan’s Tourism Industry

Abstract

The research makes an attempt to analyze China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Sustainable Development Project which offers both opportunities and challenges for the tourism industry in Gilgit-Baltistan. The study used H. R. Sontag’s Dependence theory, which allows to examine how Chinese investment and economic dependence affect the resilience and sustainable development of the country’s tourism sector. The research makes a conclusion that the implementation of a sustainable development project within the framework of the CPEC for the Gilgil-Baltistan region and its tourism sector potentially will have the following consequences. In a positive format: economic growth, improved interaction between the population, development of infrastructure and logistics routes and regional development in general, creation of new jobs, promotion and marketing. The challenges in this case are security, cultural, religious issues and threats to the ecology and environment. The methodological basis of the study is using systematic and statistical methods (sampling method). The comparative analysis of tourist flows based on open data from Pakistani government agencies were made. Secondly, sociological polls were conducted at the Karakoram International University and the stakeholder on the public perception of the impact of the CPEC on the development of the region’s tourism industry .