Abstract:
Murree, a beautiful hill station, situated in Punjab province is famous for its scenic beauty and leisure facilities. There are different types of outdoor recreational facilities in Murree such as the most famous SOZO adventure park situated in lower Topa Murree, chair lifts, restaurants, parks, horse riding, and children play areas. Four parks and outdoor recreational spaces were visited in Murree in order to find out the visitors’ perception of recreational facilities available there. Total 200 tourists were interviewed in Murree and present sample was selected through convenience sampling. Tourists’ perception was measured through perception index. The SWOT analysis was done to highlight the problems and issues faced by the tourists. The survey shows that 81.5% of the visitors came from different cities of Pakistan. Almost 18.5% of the tourists were foreigners. The number of tourists doubled during the weekends. It was observed that 80% of the students from college and university also come in the form of groups to outdoor recreational places in Murree for the purpose of excursion. 55% of the visitors of SOZO Adventure Park showed high satisfaction level with the services and facilities in the park. Surveys conducted in other places like Bagh-e-Shaheedan, PIA Park and Kashmir Point showed 30-40% satisfaction level regarding the availability of services and facilities. This study concludes that there is a need to increase the number of outdoor recreational places in Murree along with state of art facilities.
