Pakistan Tourism account slammed for sharing ‘sexist’ video of couple in cable car

Clip shows tourist threatening to throw his wife from a cable car for annoying him

The video shows a ‘husband’ threatening to throw his ‘wife’ out of a cable car (Twitter/PakistanTourism)

A well-followed Twitter account representing tourism in Pakistan has attracted criticism for sharing a viral video that followers say is sexist and inappropriate.

The video, which was posted by the tourism-focused account on Christmas Day, shows a couple arguing on a cable car in the country.

In the clip, a woman riding a cable car tells her partner she is afraid of heights. When her male partner becomes annoyed with her, he threatens to open the safety bar on the cable car to throw her off.

The woman in the video seems visibly frightened, and asks her partner to forgive her before touching his feet as a sign of respect.

“Way for tourist to get revenge on wife,” wrote the Lahore-based tourism Twitter channel.

However, followers were quick to point out the problematic content of the video, with many branding it sexist.

“This is Pakistan’s idea of promoting tourism. This guy is literally threatening his wife with her life. Exactly why anyone would not want to travel on this ropeway. Can’t get any more dumb than this,” wrote @Sharmay.

“Pakistani Tourism, are you seriously using it to promote your business? This is terrible. It’s not funny at all,” wrote one follower.

Travel writer Salman Rashid replied saying, “Are you out of your mind? What are you trying to portray? This is in extremely poor taste. Please take it off social media.”

“WTF is this? Who is this imbecile? This idiot should be arrested!” commented Ali Wajee Ur Rehman.

“The sexist and misogynistic levels of Pakistan tourism,” wrote @Therainpoet, sharing the video.

The clip has now had 756,000 views on the Twitter channel, with many of the hundreds of comments calling for the video to be taken down.

It’s not the first time a tourism organisation has been accused of tone deaf social media. In 2018, a Hong Kong tourism advert fell flat after it showed a boyfriend stealing his girlfriend’s passport, with some saying the “romantic” move was actually abusive.

Meanwhile, in January Ukraine’s tourism board attracted criticism for telling prospective visitors to “Keep calm and visit Ukraine”, despite the looming threat of a Russian invasion.

The Independent has approached the Pakistan Tourism account for comment.