Faiza Tehseen

Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) is devising new inbound and outbound tourism strategies to transform the country’s tourism sector into a robust, profit-earning segment of the national economy.

“The great tourism potential in Pakistan needs to be tapped for socio-economic benefits. Though, the tourism sector performed well in 2023, there is a need to improve its performance further. PTDC is working to make this sector more productive and efficient,” said its managing director, Aftabur Rahman Rana. Talking to WealthPK, he said despite various challenges, PTDC was putting in its best efforts to tap the full potential of this sector. “Now, the tourism market is a smarter place to earn financial benefits and nations are working hard to benefit from it.” He said that PTDC was focusing on a few areas to increase tourist footfall in the country. He said that easy and hassle-free availability of visas to foreign tourists was being ensured, tourist-friendly infrastructure was being developed, collaboration with travel agencies at both domestic and international levels was being enhanced, efforts were being made to promote cultural events and showcase Pakistani tourism products at different international platforms. He said to expand Pakistani tourism markets involvement of all stakeholders was being ensured. “Collaboration between government and private sector is being enhanced to improve hospitality, guidance, safety and destination attraction approaches. Training of the staffers of local airlines, railways and other transport providers is also part of the plan, so that our international guests may feel more comfortable to visit Pakistan.”

Rana quoted a report published by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, saying that Pakistan was considered the best-performing tourist destination in 2023. “The graph of the world tourism barometer shows that Pakistan is leading it by 92% of the pre-pandemic levels. Compared to 2022, 115% more foreign tourists visited Pakistan in 2023. While due to the gradual reopening of international travel, the whole of Asia and the Pacific region reached 62% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023,” he added while quoting the report. He said PTDC was doing its best to project the image of Pakistan as a tourist-friendly destination across the globe. He said Pakistan participated in six mega tourism events – ITB Berlin, New York Travel and Adventure Show, Seoul Travel Mart Korea, Travel Mart in Vietnam, Arabian Travel Mart Dubai and World Travel Mart London.

All concerned government and private sector departments enthusiastically participated in them and got excellent opportunities to develop strong B2B linkages with international tour operators, he added. Rana said PTDC also organised various international online B2B meetings with the support of Pakistani missions abroad. “It enhanced the number of international tourists visiting Pakistan in 2023. PTDC also launched a new tourism brand, “Salam Pakistan,” in August 2023. It created a positive impact in attracting both international and domestic tourists to visit the scenic destinations of Pakistan.” Meanwhile, a report published by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics says that only by stabilising the law and order situation in the country, the tourism sector of Pakistan can contribute Rs1 trillion to its economy.

Credit: INP-WealthPk