Purpose The purpose of this study is to discern the underlying dimensions of destination branding and social media in the socio-geographical context of Pakistan. The study while selecting an event – Pakistan Tourism Summit 2019 – has explored the narratives of foreign social media influencers (SMIs). These narratives and content of tourism website of Pakistan have been comparatively analyzed to disentangle the voluntary and involuntary branding eventualities. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative research strategy has been adopted. Using the interface of NVivo 12, thematic analysis on the narratives of foreign influencers and content of tourism website has been performed. Eventually, influencer’s videos and website’s content have been transcribed and integrated into inductive themes. Findings The findings implies that multiple halt points exist in tourism branding of Pakistan. Stigmatized image as a dangerous place for visitation, superficial/exaggerated branding by the influencers, colonial mindset to marginalize the domestic influencers, domestic branding through foreign influencers and veiled tourism potential are the various dimensions emerged during analysis phase. Research limitations/implications Given the limitations of the qualitative research approach, the current study lacks statistical avenues of quantitative or mix-method studies. Selection of a single event and website further limits this study and calls for the necessity of future studies having wider units of data collection and other portals of social media. Practical implications For policy makers, academia and supply sector, this study offers touchpoints to be emphasized in the strategic, legal and theoretical fronts of destination branding. Originality/value Despite the hegemony of SMIs in destination branding, there is scarcity of research on the paybacks of such branding campaigns. This endeavor in response to this call, accentuated the destination branding via foreign social media activists regarding the tourism potential of Pakistan. Findings provides novel insights and branding ethos deemed necessary to be considered in destination branding strategies/campaigns.

The present study analyzes globalization and its impact on income inequality in the case of Pakistan using the time-series ARDL by Pesaran et al. (2001) from 1991-2019. The outcomes are unique in the sense that globalization causes to increase in income inequality in Pakistan. In contrast, inflation and government expenditure have a negative effect on income inequality. GDP has a positive and significant impact on income inequality. The findings have practical implications for income inequality. This paper finds both short and long-run results while results of short-run differ from the effects of long-run.. The methodology used in the paper is ARDL because it is confirmed after applying the unit root test some variables like Gini, TR, and Inflation are stationary at a level while GDP and Government final consumption and expenditure are stationary at level. The data of all variables are collected from WDI, and data strongly favored the balanced panel. However, the ECM value shows a higher convergence speed toward equilibrium. The study updated the recent analysis and suggested that income inequality is the main issue in developing countries, and Pakistan considers a developing country. The researcher limited the analyses only for Pakistan to get the desired outcome and bridge the gap of globalization and its influence on income inequality in Pakistan.

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