The COVID-19 crisis has harmed Pakistan’s economic growth prospects and one of the key areas of promise tourism has been badly hurt just when the country was trying to market it.
Still trying to cope with the coronavirus outbreak, the country has decided to turn around tourism growth through a regional initiative.
Islamabad will host the World Tourism Forum next year to exhibit its tourism potential around the globe, especially among the members of D-8 (developing 8) bloc. Tourism ministers of all the D-8 member states, including Turkey will be participating in the forum in Islamabad, according to Syed Zulfikar Bukhari, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Advisor on Tourism and Overseas Pakistan.
“Pakistan has a huge tourism potential that we want to showcase to the world, especially the Muslim world,” Bukhari said, adding: “We are inviting the tourism ministers of D-8 countries, including Turkey, to learn from their experience promoting tourism.”
The D-8 grouping, also known as Developing-8, is an organization for development cooperation among the countries i.e. Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.
The countries were due to meet this year but the plan has been scuttled due to coronavirus pandemic.
In recent weeks, another crisis – of fake pilot degrees – has rocked the country, grounding Pakistan International flights to Europe for six months. It’s unclear how the country would address the crisis.
The World Tourism Forum is an organization based in Istanbul, the port city of Turkey dedicated to developing tourism around the world with its annual meetings.
Pakistan has a five-year action plan to boost its tourism that is still to recover from the Afghan war and its spillover into the country for the last two decades.
Islamabad plans to launch a tourism e-portal by the end of this year to better attract foreign and local tourists.
Pakistan is ranked high for its potential to attract tourists with a breathtaking variety from snow-capped mountains in the north to deserts in the south and sea beaches in Karachi.
The northern regions including Gilgit-Baltistan neighboring China are home to six peaks of over 8,000 meters (26,246 feet) tall, including the world’s second-tallest peak, K2, and has some of the most popular lakes like Shangrila.
Besides being endowed with Nature’s bounties, Pakistan has been a land with rich heritage with three of thee world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism having their most sacred and historical places, relics and monuments.
