Faiza Tehseen

China is the largest global outbound tourism market, with millions of its nationals travelling abroad annually. By attracting them, Pakistan can not only reap socio-economic benefits but also enhance diplomatic ties with its northeastern neighbour.

Already, the year 2023 is dedicated as the year of tourism between Pakistan and China, said Mukhtar Ali, Manager Tourist Facilitation Centres of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), in an interview with WealthPK. “To increase the footfall of Chinese tourists, the PTDC officials attended a 22-day seminar in China in August this year. Delegates from 13 other countries, belonging to the hospitality sector, also participated. A three-member delegation from our department joined it.  During this seminar, all the participants were informed about the requirements of Chinese tourists. A detailed briefing concerning the hoteling, hospitality demands, and type of guidelines about the destinations was provided. To cater to the needs of our Chinese guests, this type of briefing is direly needed.

The PTDC now meets most of their requirements and the footfall of Chinese tourists is increasing gradually,” he said. Currently, the PTDC participated in COTTM – the most important platform for tourism promotion in China. The outbound travel and tourism exhibition organized by COTTM is held every year in Beijing. Through it, promotion of tourist sites in Pakistan can not only be shared with the Chinese officials and people but other international participants as well. The participation of PTDC in the meeting held in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang, is also a part of efforts to improve the tourism sector in Pakistan. All members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) also joined this meeting. Right now, regular flights between Pakistan and China are mostly operated by the Air China.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has to be more active.  It is important to schedule regular flights between the two countries. Currently, only one flight connects Beijing and Islamabad on Sundays, which is insufficient. The number of Chinese tourists can be increased by increasing the number of flights. The PTDC is actively attending international tourist exhibitions, fairs, and all mega events conducted for the development and promotion of the tourism sector. All these efforts bore fruit and the tourist footfall on the tourist visa increased to around 40,000 this year. Only on the tourist visa, it was between 20,000 and 25,000 foreign visitors last year. Regular meetings with the tour operators working for inbound or outbound tour destinations, both local and foreign hospitality experts, and all other stakeholders are also improving the tourism sector in the country.

“Although it is far below the true potential, it is a step toward improvement. The PTDC promotes all tourist attractions through different types of profile-raising materials like videos, brochures, and maps, with complete photographic images. The same information was shared on our website as well. All these exertions promote our tourism sector both at the international and domestic level. It is important to boost socioeconomic development and prosperity in the country,“ added Mukhtar Ali.

Credit: INP-WealthPk