The Senate Standing Committee on Culture, Sports and Tourism said on Thursday that the Tourism Division should launch an aggressive promotional campaign and marketing strategy to achieve the objectives of the "Destination Pakistan, 2007".
The Committee also asked the Culture and Tourism Ministry to prepare an up-to-date Events Calendar, which would boost tourism potential of the country. The Federal Minister, Tourism, Dr Syed Ghazi Gulab Jamal and Secretary, Tourism, Dr Shahzad Qaiser, informed the committee that the "Destination Pakistan" campaign was lagging behind due to financial constrain.
Only Rs 113.65 million was allocated instead of required Rs 500 million for implementing the national tourism marketing strategy to drum up the campaign for inviting foreign tourists. In spite of limitations his Ministry was handling 22 major tourism projects, he said.
The Committee Chairman, Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry said the measures for promoting tourism should target international travellers encouraging the local people too. The Committee recommended an additional allocation of Rs 85 million to help the ministry organising some of the upcoming events since the country had vast cultural and religious potential to attract tourists.
The chairman also referred to the adverse travel advisories being projected by some of the Western countries and suggested Ministries of Tourism, Foreign Affairs, Commerce, Interior and Information to formulate a comprehensive projection plan to introduce our cultural panorama. This plan should counter baseless propaganda, which inhibits travelers from visiting Pakistan.
The Committee suggested the Tourism Division to host travel writers, media representatives and tour operators to highlight true picture of the situation in Pakistan. Razina Alam Khan, Fauzia FakharuzZaman, Nilofar Bakhtiar, Dr Kauser Firdaus, Sabina Rauf and Abdul Rahim Khan Mandokhail were also present in the meeting.