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Govt formulating master plan for tourism development

ISLAMABAD: The government is formulating a national "tourism development master plan" with the financial and technical assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Tourism Organisation (WTO).

According to officials at the Ministry of Culture, Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs, the proposed master plan was being formulated keeping in view of the importance and future growth potential of Tourism Industry in Pakistan.

The sports and tourism division has also planned to carry out surveys to determine as to whether Pakistan is cheaper or costly when compared with the world's other destinations, the officials said.

The surveys will also assess the industry's growth potential in terms of attracting foreign and domestic investment, the officials said.

The surveys will also identify the problems faced by local and foreign tourists during their visits and pin-point the tourist assets and attractions in the country.

According to the officials, the survey teams of tourism division will undertake a field operation from January 15 at all airports, entry points, check points, hotels and sample households. The field operation will continue for three months.

The tourism division, while requesting for cooperation from all concerned, has assured that the information gathered through these surveys will be kept confidential and used only for the purpose of providing better tourism facilities.

Tourism, being a largest industry in the world after oil, plays a key role in the world economy and is considered the economic back bone of many countries.

In Pakistan, it is one of the largest industries in terms of foreign exchange earnings and the experts are of the view that tremendous scope exists for further exploiting the economic benefits from tourism sector. APP