‘Tourism Cities’ on Egyptian model in offing to attract visitors to scenic spots: Zulfi Bukhari

ISLAMABAD, Dec 3 (APP):The government is working out a comprehensive plan to develop ‘Tourism Cities’ in potential areas of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the pattern of Egypt, to substantially enhancing its share in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

“We are carrying out consultations with an Egyptian company for materializing this initiative as soon as possible,” National Tourism Coordination Board (NTCB) Chairman Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari told APP on Tuesday.

In the first phase, he said the tourism cities would be developed in various districts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that have massive tourism potential.

He specifically mentioned that Nathia Gali, Khushab which would eventually
be transformed into tourism cities.

To a query, he said: “One has to plan for 100 years when it comes to tourism promotion.”
He said Executive Chairman of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (Egyptian Co) Naguib Sawiris had recently held meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan and expressed the keenness to invest in diverse fields like mining, tourism, low and high cost housing units and micro banking.

“Around 2 billion dollars investment is expected from the Egyptian company in multiple sectors,” he added.

Zulfi Bukhari, who is also Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, said tourism promotion was the top priority of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government and vowed to harness the sector’s full potential.

He said the federal government, in coordination with provinces, was taking multiple initiatives to promote these specific sites as tourist havens. Reforms were being introduced in Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) for making it more effective and result-oriented organization, he added.

The chairman said the PTDC was also working on an initiative which was aimed
at promoting Pakistan tourism industry as a customized brand in the world, adding
the brand name was imperative to improve the country’s image abroad and boost inbound tourism in the country.