Punjab is often sold to the outside world through a narrow lens — vibrant festivals, rich cuisine, loud celebrations. While these are integral to the state’s identity, Punjab’s tourism potential is far deeper, quieter, and far more sustainable than what current policy and promotion reflect.
At a time when tourism is being repositioned globally as a tool for local employment, cultural preservation, and rural revival, Punjab appears to be reacting in fragments rather than acting with vision.
🌾 The Untapped Punjab
Punjab has what many destinations spend decades trying to build:
- A living agrarian culture
- Deep spiritual geography (Sikh, Sufi, and plural traditions)
- Partition history that shaped South Asia
- Riverine landscapes, wetlands, and border narratives
- Crafts, folklore, and village life still intact
Yet, most of this remains undocumented, under-promoted, or poorly connected to tourism infrastructure.
Tourism in Punjab still revolves around a few urban nodes — while rural Punjab, which holds the real stories, remains invisible.
🏨 Infrastructure Without Imagination
While roads, hotels, and signage matter, tourism is not built only with concrete.
What Punjab lacks is:
- Curated heritage circuits
- Trained local storytellers and guides
- Authentic village homestays (not cosmetic resorts)
- Clean, accessible public amenities near heritage sites
- A calendar of cultural experiences spread across the year
Too often, tourism policy focuses on events rather than experiences, on crowds rather than communities.
👥 Tourism for Whom?
A fundamental question remains unanswered:
Is tourism in Punjab meant to benefit only big operators — or local people?
If farmers, artisans, women’s collectives, and village youth are not earning from tourism, then growth figures mean little.
Sustainable tourism must:
- Create local ownership
- Respect cultural dignity
- Avoid turning heritage into spectacle
- Balance footfall with preservation
Without this balance, tourism risks becoming extractive — not empowering.
🌍 A Changing Traveller, An Unchanged Strategy
Today’s travellers seek:
- Meaningful stories
- Slow travel
- Cultural authenticity
- Responsible experiences
Punjab’s tourism narrative, however, is still stuck in loud slogans and surface imagery.
There is a growing global interest in:
- Partition trails
- Faith journeys
- Border histories
- Food origins
- Farm experiences
Punjab is uniquely positioned for this — if it chooses depth over noise.
🔍 The Way Forward
Punjab does not need to imitate other states.
It needs to rediscover itself with honesty.
A serious tourism revival demands:
- Long-term planning, not seasonal campaigns
- Decentralisation — empowering districts and villages
- Documentation of oral histories
- Public-private-community partnerships
- Environmental and cultural safeguards
Tourism should not dilute Punjab’s soul — it should help preserve it.
✍️ Closing Thought
Punjab’s story is not just to be visited.
It is to be understood.
Until tourism policy recognises this, the state will continue to attract visitors — but miss the chance to build a tourism economy that is resilient, respectful, and rooted.
— Editorial Desk
Punjab Sarokar News