Govt working on regulations to promote eco-tourism: Amin Aslam

• The government was also extensively working to finalize regulations to help preserve environment and ensure additional job opportunities for local communities.
• The ministry has also been working to develop eco-tourism sites in the northern parts of the country under the United Nations-funded projects.
• The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, during its first year, had taken revolutionary steps for tourism promotion.

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam Friday said that current government was taking multiple initiatives to promote eco-tourism across the country.

He said the government was also extensively working to finalize regulations to help preserve environment and ensure additional job opportunities for local communities.

" We are working with the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government to formulate  regulations that will help protect the environment and regulate tourism in the area", he said while addressing World Tourism Day Seminar on ‘Tourism and Jobs: A better future for all’ organized by the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC).

In the first phase, he said the tourism laws would be enforced in the Gilgit-Baltistan and later it would be replicated in other parts of the country with the help of provincial governments.

With the exponential growth in domestic tourism during the last two years due to the improved law and order, the adviser said the eco-tourism would be an effective tool for conserving nature and improving livelihoods of local communities with rural development.

Amin said the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) had signed a project with Agha Khan Foundation to set up eight tourist zones in the GB where the tourism laws would be enforced to manage the influx of local and foreign tourists.

The ministry has also been working to develop eco-tourism sites in the northern parts of the country under the United Nations-funded projects, he added.

Citing an example, he said the MoCC had taken an initiative for the development of a tourist spot (opposite to Hunza velly) as an eco-tourism valley and the policy was being formulated with the help of local community to enable environment-friendly tourist activities in the area.

“There is a dire need to integrate tourism with environment and this government is committed to perform the task under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan who has been a strong proponent of unlocking the untapped potential of tourism in the country,” Amin remarked while discouraging irresponsible tourism in the country.

“We have to replace such type of tourism with Responsible Ecological Tourism to preserve natural landscapes and natural beauty,” he added.

The adviser said the Climate Change Ministry had launched Clean Green Index to create competition among the cities to promote healthy cleanliness and green environment in their respective areas.

He said the MoCC was in constant contact with the provincial authorities to provide them solutions for redressing the issues related to the littering and proper waste disposal.

He said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, during its first year, had taken revolutionary steps for tourism promotion.

Amin appreciated the initiatives of the government including relaxation in visa policy, formation of the National Tourism Coordination Board for stronger coordination among the provinces and restructuring of the PTDC.

However, he said the government was now focusing on developing infrastructure support system that would eventually boost the tourist activities in the country.

“Tourism is not a GDP multiplier but a quickest GDP multiplier,” he said while pointing out the immense potential of Pakistan tourism offering lush green meadows, sky-high mountains, the world’s oldest civilizations and heritage, besides 1,000 kilometer long coastal lines.

Highlighting the cultural, social and economic impacts of tourism on the society, Managing Director PTDC Syed Intikhab Alam said the sector played a great role in poverty alleviation, rural development and women empowerment.

Intikhab said the present government was fully cognizant of the true potential of tourism and embracing digital technologies to project real face of Pakistan across the globe.