CAIRO:Minister of State for Culture Huzaifa Rehman on Tuesday said that Pakistan was committed to implement the D-8’s development agenda, focusing on tourism as a key driver of economic growth.
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“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, the country is strategically focusing on tourism as a catalyst for sustainable economic progress,” Huzaifa Rehman said while addressing at the 4th D-8 Ministerial Meeting on Tourism Cooperation in Cairo, Egypt.
He said as part of its national tourism development strategy, Pakistan is undertaking a comprehensive set of initiatives to elevate its tourism sector. These include major investments in infrastructure, the promotion of digital tourism, hospitality sector training, enhanced quality assurance mechanisms, and the preservation of cultural heritage.
He said the D-8 countries are blessed with huge potential of tourism due to the availability of large number of natural, cultural and historical tourist assets in their territories.
“Through our integrated collaborative tourism strategies, we can unlock immense socioeconomic opportunities for our people and promote a peaceful, prosperous and interconnected future. Moreover, this would not just promote people to people contact among the citizens of D-8 countries but would also make our countries, regional tourism hubs, for the rest of the world,” he added.
He emphasized that Pakistan under “Salam Pakistan” initiative, have rebranded its enormous tourism potential. “Through this platform, we have integrated the tourism facilities available in Pakistan. We are mainly focusing on developing adventure tourism, religious and culture tourism, ecotourism, medical tourism and recreational and leisure tourism as per the suitability of our regions and available resources.”
He stressed to adopt tourist friendly visa regimes in order to facilitate the flow of tourists among the D8 member states. To encourage regional tourism, he said Pakistan has already introduced a tourist-friendly visa regime, offering free of cost e-visas to the citizens of over 125 countries, including the D-8 members.
The minister also stressed the need to increase the direct flights among the main cities of member states to facilitate business and tourist travel.
Furthermore, he also desired to promote the exchange of tourism professionals among the D-8 member states to develop joint marketing plans besides arranging travel related exhibitions and road shows in each other countries to create awareness of tourism potential of the member countries.
