ISLAMABAD: The National Tourism Coordination Board (NTCB) on Monday decided to set up an inter-provincial committee to brand Pakistan abroad.
The decision to this effect was taken during the board’s second meeting in the pursuance of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s instruction to improve coordination among the federation and provincial authorities.
The meeting was chaired by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari.
The members from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan backed the idea of establishing such a platform to promote the country’s tourist destinations in different international travel trade shows.
Zulfikar Bukhari directed the provincial authorities to identify and make documentaries of the attractive tourist spots to present the country’s pluralistic image abroad.
The participants of meeting assured of creating an endowment fund for the making documentaries of the existing tourist resorts and unexplored scenic areas. Highlighting the paucity of resources being faced by the provinces, they apprised the chairman about the policies, functions of the respective provincial tourism departments and the identification of new tourism sites.
Bukhari said the federal government was ready to facilitate the provinces and help develop road infrastructure leading to the tourist destinations.
He expressed satisfaction over the policies chalked out by the provinces to uplift the country’s tourism industry. He stressed to focus on adventure, cultural and religious tourism,
“We have tourism policies and authorities made in respective provinces, all we need is a vision, resources and direction to make Pakistan a ‘brand’ in international tourism,” Zulfikar Bukhari remarked.
He also underscored the importance to engage private investors in developing accommodations and hotels for local and international tourists.
“The private sector is ready to invest in the hotel industry; the next phase is to channel their investment in the development of tourism resorts,” he added.
