ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is all set to host the next edition of the World Tourism Forum in May next year in Islamabad, the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation said on Tuesday, in a bid to revive tourism that was devastated by militant violence in the fallout from the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
Potentially restarting tourism has been one of the most talked-about parts of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s push to create an Islamic welfare state in Pakistan. Earlier this year, Khan’s government announced it was planning to ease visa restrictions for visitors from 55 countries, including most European nations.
“Organizers of the World Tourism Forum are expected to share a broad plan for organizing the event in Islamabad with us by the end of this month,” Syed Intikhab Alam, managing director of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), told Arab News in an interview on Tuesday.
“We hope to organize the forum in May next year which will be attended by foreign delegates and professionals,” he said, adding: “We are doing our best to pitch Pakistan as one of the best tourism places on earth to foreign tourists.”
The World Tourism Forum takes place four times a year in global centers around the world to bring together world tourism leaders and industry representatives. The event pays particular attention to the relationship between local and global tourism trends, as well as strategies for more sustainable tourism growth.
A World Tourism Forum delegation headed by the president of its executive board, Bulut Bagci, called on PM Khan last week to discuss ways to promote tourism opportunities in Pakistan.
Alam said the government had created an endowment fund with seed money of Rs1 billion ($6.4 million) to execute marketing plans to promote unexplored historic sites and resorts for local and foreign travelers.
“We are getting extremely positive feedback from foreign tourists due to our online visa facility and peace across the country,” he said, adding that around 2.5 million tourists had visited Pakistan last year and the corporation’s goal was to double that number to 5 million in the next three years.
Pakistan was last a prominent tourist destination in the 1970s when the “hippie trail” brought Western travelers through the apricot and walnut orchards of the Swat Valley and Kashmir on their way to India and Nepal.
Since then, deteriorating security and the imposition of a harsh interpretation of Islamic laws, particularly in the country’s northwestern belt, have chipped away at the number of visitors. But law and order have improved dramatically in recent years, with militant attacks down sharply in the mainly Muslim country of 208 million people.
Tourism currently contributes less than one percent to Pakistan’s GDP.
“We are struggling to increase the contribution of travel and tourism to our GDP and for that we are trying to explore all avenues, including religious tourism for Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists,” Alam said.
In bid to bolster tourism, Pakistan to host World Tourism Forum in May 2020
In bid to bolster tourism, Pakistan to host World Tourism Forum in May 2020
- Government has set up endowment fund with seed money of Rs1 billion to promote historic sites and resorts
- World Tourism Forum takes place four times a year in global centers to bring together tourism leaders and industry representatives
Pakistani, Bangladeshi officials reaffirm strong ties, discuss trade and regional issues
- The statement comes after Pakistani and Bangladeshi foreign ministry officials’ meeting in Jeddah on the sidelines of an OIC session
- Pakistan, Bangladesh, which split in 1971, have moved closer since the ouster of former PM Sheikh Hasina, an India ally, in Aug. 2024
ISLAMABAD: Top Pakistani and Bangladeshi officials on Sunday reaffirmed the strength of their relations as they discussed bilateral, regional and global issues, the Pakistani foreign ministry said.
The statement came after a meeting between Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Bangladesh’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Touhid Hossain on the sidelines of an extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah.
Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of the same country until Bangladesh’s secession following a bloody civil war in 1971, an event that long cast a shadow over bilateral ties. Both countries have moved closer since 2024, following the ouster of former premier Sheikh Hasina who was considered an India ally.
The two foreign ministry officials discussed a range of regional and global issues as well bilateral cooperation in diverse fields, according to a Pakistani foreign ministry statement.
“Both dignitaries expressed satisfaction over the robustness of Pakistan-Bangladesh relations,” the statement read. “They discussed bilateral relations in diverse fields, especially high-level exchanges, trade, and educational collaboration.”
Dar arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday to attend the 22nd OIC Council of Foreign Ministers held in Jeddah on Jan. 10 to discuss Israel’s move last month to recognize Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, as a separate nation. The act has drawn sharp criticism from Muslim nations worldwide.
Muslim countries, including Pakistan, believe the move could be part of Tel Aviv’s plan to forcibly relocate Palestinian Muslims to Somaliland. Several international news outlets last year reported that Israel had contacted Somaliland over the potential resettlement of Palestinians forcibly removed from Gaza.
“We believe that such recognition of an integral part of a sovereign state is not a diplomatic act, but an act of political aggression that sets a perilous precedent, threatening peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea region, and beyond,” Dar told participants of the meeting in Jeddah.
The Pakistani foreign minister said Islamabad considers the move a flagrant violation of international law and a direct assault on the territorial integrity of Somalia. He called on all states to refrain from engaging with Somaliland authorities.
