Imran forms body to boost tourism as virus recedes

ISLAMABAD: Encouraged by a coronavirus pandemic increasingly under control, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday constituted a National Coordination Committee on Tourism, the latest move in the government’s bid to promote Pakistan as a viable tourist destination.

The move comes weeks after the government reopened tourism across the country after a five-month virus hiatus, which the government at the time said would help get the virus-hit economy back on track.

According to Radio Pakistan, the committee has been constituted to facilitate and coordinate the government’s commitment to give tourism a priority in mainstream development and steer the country towards becoming the fastest growing tourism destination.

Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Zulfi Bukhari, will be the convener of the committee. According to the terms of reference, the committee will oversee and review implementation of the national tourism strategy as well as the integration of provincial and regional policies.

It will act as a focal point for inter-provincial, inter-ministerial, inter-departmental and inter-agency coordination to resolve implementation issues with respect to tourism development sector.

Geo-mapping and profiling of all the tourist spots and tourism and hospitality business and products will also come under the scope of the committee. It will identify barriers to tourism development with complete recommendations for their removal to create an enabling environment for tourism sector.

The committee will devise effective regulatory and implementation mechanism of national minimum standards while ensuring its monitoring and coordination with all stakeholders for its strict compliance. The committee has been tasked to promote investments through public-private partnership and small and medium enterprises. It will also suggest measures to promote formal training of manpower engaged with the tourism industry for capacity building.

The convener shall brief the Prime Minister fortnightly on impediments, recommendations for improvement, and overall progress on implementation of Prime Minister’s guidelines and directions.