Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Having electrified with the grandeur of the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, winter sports festivities encompassing snow & skiing games are picking up momentum in Pakistan.
Recently, a three-day winter sports competition has taken place at Arangkhel, Ganga Choti of Neelam Valley in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK), a region administered by Pakistan. People hailing from Malam Jabba, Chitral and KPK region flocked to the site to participate in winter sports competition getting fired up with fervency ignited by the ongoing winsome Beijing Winter Olympics that galvanized the attention of the entire world.
Besides Pakistan, enthusiasts from Afghanistan also took part in the games expressing their fondness and avidity for snow sports. In collaboration with Tourism & Sports Department Azad Kashmir and Hussain Enterprises (Tourism Agency), winter sports festival that came to effect at the world’s most beautiful snow meadow in Neelam Valley set public interest ablaze in Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. Six teams of boys and three teams of girls basked in alpine skiing, snow-boarding and ice-skating in the event.
Hussain Enterprises CEO Ch. Saud Mukhtar International games, especially the Beijing Winter Olympics, blazed the trail of icy and snowy games, making people feel the thunder and splendor of snow-related games. “People are gradually prioritizing winter sports that were earlier on least preference,” he added. “Hopefully, we will organize similar games in March as well in the same place,” he mentioned.
The three-day event was held under the aegis of AJK Winter Sports Association in collaboration with the AJK government’s department of sports and tourism and a private company, said Engr Raja Aqeel Khurshid, the secretary general of the association.
Similarly, a two-day Neelum snow festival has been inaugurated at the district headquarters of the picturesque Neelum valley of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Deputy Commissioner Shaukat Khan Yousufzai said that the festival had been planned to promote winter tourism and cultural activities in the valley in collaboration with different stakeholders.
The Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, currently in high gear, have galvanized the Chinese enthusiasm for winter sports among Chinese people and people of the world. It has done wonder in boosting China’s ice and snow sports industry.
According to China’s development plan for winter sports from 2016 to 2025, the total scale of the industry will reach one trillion yuan (about $157.2 billion) by 2025. Winter sports and tourism are a $12 billion industry in the United States.
