Tourism campaign be launched aggressively: Senate Body
By Asghar Ali

ISLAMABAD—The Senate Standing Committee on Culture, Sports and Tourism which met in the Parliament House under the Chairmanship of Senator Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry has observed that Tourism plays an important role in the economic development of the country and all out efforts should be made to promote tourism, both at domestic as well as at international levels.
The Committee suggested that the government should aggressively launch the tourism promotional campaign and pursue the National Marketing Strategy to achieve the objectives. This observation was made by the Committee while having a presentation on the progress made so for in achieving the objective “Destination Pakistan, 2007”. The Members of the Committee pointed out that Pakistan was rich in cultural, religious and adventurous tourism and that some western countries were constantly issuing travel advisories advising their nationals not to plan visits to Pakistan. They suggested that the Ministry of Tourism, in coordination with other Ministries like Foreign Affairs, Commerce, Interior and Information and Broadcasting should formulate a viable plan to thwart the baseless propaganda launched by some hostile countries and highlight Pakistan’s soft image at national as well as at international level. It was also suggested that tourism cells in our embassies/high commissions should be set up to remove the misperceptions about Pakistan and Islam. It also recommended that the Ministry of Tourism may send delegations, comprising the public representatives, writers, media representatives and tour operators to foreign countries to highlight Pakistan’s true image and also invite writers, intellectuals and the journalists with a view to enable them to have a clear picture of the situation in Pakistan.
Federal Minister for Tourism, Dr. Syed Ghazi Gulab Jamal and Secretary Tourism, Dr Shahzad Qaiser gave comprehensive presentations to the Committee on the objectives of “Destination Pakistan, 2007”, the activities undertaken by the Ministry to achieve the objectives and the progress made so for in this respect. The Committee was informed that an amount of Rs. 113.65 million were allocated to the Ministry as against the demand of Rs. 500 million for implementation of the national tourism marketing strategy and for the celebration of Visit Pakistan Year, 2007. It was told that the Ministry of Tourism, despite various constraints has successfully attracted the foreign as well as local private investors to invest in the tourism sector and as a result of these efforts 22 major tourism projects were presently being undertaken. The Committee expressed the view that only achievable targets should be set. It recommended that the Events Calendar should be maintained and their continuity duly assured. The Committee unanimously recommended allocation of additional funds to the tune of Rs. 85 million to clear outstanding liabilities and to organize some of the upcoming events.
The meeting was attended besides the Chairman of the Committee Senator Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry by SenatorsMrs. Razina Alam Khan, Ms. Fauzia Fakhar-uz-Zaman, Mrs. Nilofar Bakhtiar, Dr. Kauser Firdaus, Mr. Abdul Rahim Khan Mandokhail and Ms. Sabina Rauf. Federal Minister for Tourism Dr. Syed Ghazi Gulab Jamal, Secretary Tourism, Dr. Shahzad Qaiser and senior officers of the Ministry of Tourism and PTDC were also present.