Travel CEO wins PATA award

KARACHI: Lt Col Akbar Shareef (Retd), Chairman and CEO of Rakaposhi Tours Private Limited Pakistan, received the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Life Membership award, during the 69th Annual General Meeting held online, a statement said.

Accepting the award, Shareef said the importance of the tourism industry for the global economies could not be stressed enough. "While the global coronavirus outbreak had brought the industry to a standstill, we are now recovering from its impacts slowly and steadily," he said.

Currently, serving as the chairman of PATA, Pakistan chapter, the highly esteemed PATA Life Membership award was bestowed upon him in recognition of his significant leadership in the tourism sector and invaluable dedication to PATA. “I am grateful to PATA for awarding me with the Association’s highest individual honor. I will continue to extend my services to the global tourism industry and uplift the national tourism sector as the PATA Pakistan chapter chairman,” he added.

As a not-for-profit membership-based association that works for the development of tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region, PATA organises summit conferences annually and recognises individuals and entities for their contributions for the tourism sector.

In honor of his contributions to global tourism, Shareef has also been a recipient of the PATA Award of Merit. He is the first and only Pakistani to receive both awards to date.