Enhancing Export Competitiveness : Part – V

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Article

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The government has also given priority to the tourism sector. Our neighboring countries – India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives – earn a substantial amount of foreign exchange from highly organised tourism. Before Covid-19 India’s earnings were $30 billion, with Sri Lanka and Nepal in the range of $600-700 million annual inflows.

Pakistan has some of the most attractive tourist spots for meeting diversified interests. Eco tourists can enjoy Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral, Swat and places in AJK. Ethnic and religious tourism would be able to draw the Buddhists and Sikhs from all over the world to places of their heritage and worship. Sea resorts, beaches, water sports lovers can find the pristine coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan at exceptionally cheap prices. Historians of Mughal and British empires and archaeologists can explore the country at their leisure.

Of course, all this requires infrastructure facilities for transportation, local travel, accommodation, cleanliness and hygiene, safety and security, trained and courteous guides and service providers, visa and border facilitation, networks and linkages with international tourist operators. Travel advisories by foreign countries have to be relaxed and air travel by leading airlines of the world resumed. India allows package tours which extend to Nepal or Sri Lanka or multiple countries in the region. We may offer package tours by including Iran and Turkey or the Central Asian Republics. At present, we don’t have an integrated and well-coordinated tourism strategy in which the federal, provincial, local governments and private operators and service providers are able to work together and market Pakistan as a tourist destination.

Publication Source

The News

Publication Date

12-17-2021

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