Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: “Pakistan is one of the countries in the world blessed with a diverse inventory of tourism attractions. It is based on the picturesque endowments of natural landscape features, biodiversity and rich culture and heritage. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is opening hundreds of new investment opportunities across the country. Pakistan and China have signed an MoU to promote tourism between both countries and under various different activities, both sides can collaborate and bring the tourism development to a new level.” Mr Aftab ur Rehman Rana, Managing Director, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) highlighted on an online consultative B2B webinar between tour operators of Pakistan and China.
Aftab ur Rehman Rana further introduced that the government has launched a package of initiatives to promote tourism in Pakistan including formation of National Tourism Coordination Board, introduction of E-visa Facility for 191 countries, opening of Skardu airport in GB for international flights and enhancing domestic flight operation, etc.
According to the data from Department of Archaeology & Museum, Government of Pakistan, the total number of visits to cultural sites in Pakistan from 2014 to 2018 is increasing sharply of which 96% is domestic tourism and 4% is foreign tourism. Based on the great advantages, Pakistan is offering recreation tourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism, religious tourism, sports tourism, educational tourism and much more.
On the occasion, Mr Zulfiqar Ali, Second Secretary, Pakistani Embassy at Beijing China, underlined that Pakistan has unique natural and cultural conditions to attract Chinese tourists. The rural tourism, adventure tourism and cultural tourism that Chinese young people love can all be satisfied here. He also maintained that China’s tourism industry has undergone a huge transformation. Two elements are very important for developing tourism which are the introduction of online portals and the participation in tourism exposure. Many festivals occur every year in China and it is necessary for Pakistan to become a part of these festivals.
About 30 tourism operators from Pakistan and China attended the webinar and gave presentations.
