PTDC To Sponsor Religious Tourism

Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) in its Second Round Table Conference on National Tourism Strategy categorically decided to promote religious tourism in country here Wednesday

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Nov, 2017 ) :Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) in its Second Round Table Conference on National Tourism Strategy categorically decided to promote religious tourism in country here Wednesday.

Managing Director PTDC Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor Khan in the conference said tourism was one of the important factors of every state's economy and it had now become necessary to develop the sector to improve country's image in the world.

He said Pakistan had successfully fought the War on Terror and it was now time to present the peaceful and terror free country to the world. He said 59 Muslim countries including Buddhist countries had been invited to come to promote religious tourism in the country.

Ghafoor said the corporation had divided tourism in three sectors including domestic tourists, foreign tourists and local tourists of foreign countries where as special tourism coordinators had been appointed in different countries.

The tourism coordinators are assigned the task to hold conferences and meetings in their respective consulates to apprise the foreign tourists about tourist sites in the country. He said the corporation had decided to export Sikh Holy Water to Sikh devotees living around the globe which was the first step to promote religious tourism.

He further said that to ensure foolproof security for foreign tourists PTDC had planned to develop special police with the assistance of Thai Consulate.

Ghafoor said in his meeting with Counsel general of Thai Embassy it had been decided to maintain special tourist police force on the sequel of Thailand Police to ensure better protection of foreign tourists.

He said the negative propaganda by foreign media against the country seriously affected tourism which needed to be addressed. He said the foreign propaganda decreased a large number of foreign tourists.

He added that in the First Round Table Conference it was decided to establish a think tank that would work to sort out the problems, hurdles and limitations of tourism in the country and would also devise solutions to those problems.

He said it has been successfully done in the shape of this second round table conference and the corporation is taking initiatives to improve and develop tourism. He said, I am convinced that soon foreign tourists will be back to the country and we will see a better, prosperous and tourist friendly country.

Ghafoor urged the government to make its visa policy easy for tourists as India increased its tourism revenue by 30% after providing e-visa facility to foreign tourists which was an easy excess for visa without any hustle.