Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) is planning to commence an air safari in an effort to improve tourism in the country.
PTDC will also be constructing a helipad at the Rawal Lakeview point in Islamabad. The safari will provide an aerial view of the beautiful city of Islamabad.
Talking to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), PTDC Managing Director Abdul Ghafoor Khan said that he hopes more and more tourists visit Pakistan. He is of the view that Pakistan is one of the top tourist destinations in the world.
PTDC’s Efforts to Improve Tourism
To improve tourism further in the country, PTDC is going to participate in international tourism and travel exhibitions. The tourism corporation will be collaborating with airlines, hotels, tour operators and provincial organizations during these exhibitions.
These ventures by the PTDC are to promote the tourist spots in Pakistan as well as increase the flow of tourists visiting the country. PTDC MD added,
To increase the number of rooms in existing PTDC motels, we have contacted manufacturers of prefabricated structures and soon new rooms will be added to Naran, Ayubia, and other prominent motels.
The tourism development corporation also asked for Thailand’s help to try and revive Pakistan’s tourism industry. Mr Ghafoor requested officials of King Power, one of Thailand’s renown investment groups, to invest in Pakistan.
Islamabad Live Stream
Earlier a team of students from COMSATS University set up a 24 hour live stream of Margalla hills in Islamabad in order to promote and showcase tourism.
Tourism has been on the decline in recent years in Pakistan due to terrorist threats and government turmoil. The recent Pakistan Super League Finals held in Gaddafi stadium Lahore helped change that image somewhat. We need more events like these to help alleviate the negative image of Pakistan portrayed in other countries because of the terrorist situation.
comsats live stream is gone. it was gimmick for few days only.
Some good steps from PTDC to unleash the potential of this ignored revenue stream for the country. Specially, the step to seek help from Thailand is good. Thailand is way ahead in this industry and very well know how to attract and take care of tourists. They are also very good in making the tourist spend in their country and this year they have estimated to earn 64 billion USD from tourism. Yes, Thailand is naturally beautiful but then they have also enhanced this natural beauty and provide all type of facilities for tourists. They are highly detail oriented and even give attention to slightest things like
1) Due to hot weather in Bangkok, they made it a policy that all taxis in Bangkok shall be air conditioned.
2) All taxis shall use meter for charging.
3) The drive name, picture, taxi registration number is displayed on the dashboard of each taxi.
4) Exterior of all taxis are multi colored to make them attractive.
5) All information of every tourist spot/route is available online.
As per my experience, almost half of the sky scrapers in Bangkok are directly or indirectly related to tourism.
Pakistan is equally rather more beautiful than Thailand. We just need to advertise/market ourselves and build tourist’s confidence related to security, facilities and good experience.
Lastly, I would like to highlight few important thing which we need to inculcate in ourselves like we need to be more open minded to accept a foreigner in our country, should have a welcoming attitude, should give him space to spend time and use resources, should not stare/oggle him/her till he/she disappears from our site :-)