Travel Responsibly for Experiencing EcoTourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

‘Travel Responsibly for Experiencing Eco-Tourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’ (TREK) is an initiative under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Integrated Tourism Development (KITE) project being implemented in partnership with the World Bank Group (WBG), Nestlé Pakistan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Department.

Apart from heritage preservation, tourism infrastructure development, TREK activities include awareness campaigns for tourists and training of local communities and hospitality businesses on waste management while adhering to the fundamentals of responsible tourism.

As part of the program, Nestlé Pakistan, in collaboration with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s Tourism Department has conducted multiple extensive trainings on waste management and sustainable tourism in Swat, Chitral, Peshawar, Abbottabad and Naran. These training comprised of sessions on categorizing waste, importance of recycling, learning to conduct waste audits, basic food safety and importance of WASH compliance among others.

Till date, nearly over 600 participants from the hospitality, social and development sectors and academia have attended these training workshops while our public service awareness campaigns leveraging social media and radio have reached out to millions of people. The partnership also reflects the role of tourism in job creation and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s efforts for facilitating tourists by improving accessibility through roads, rescue services, and planning of tourism zones.

As part of Nestlé’s vision for a waste-free future, our partnership with WBG and the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a step in that direction. Nestlé will be driving new behavior and enhancing the public’s understanding through community engagement, cleanup activities, conducting trainings, and connecting waste recycling companies to the local administration.

The program has also organized trainings titled “TREK for Healthier Kids” was held in collaboration with the Nestlé for Healthier Kids (N4HK) program. The training concluded with a certificate distribution ceremony for participating teachers, distribution of 4,000 reusable bags and 2,300 N4HK books to children from different schools in the Galiyat region. N4HK is one of Nestlé’s global Creating Shared Value initiatives that empowers parents, caregivers, and educators to foster healthier eating, drinking and lifestyle habits among school age children.