ISLAMABAD, Feb 20 (APP): Speakers at a conference on Monday while highlighting the importance of winter sports tourism stressed the need for their sustainability.
The conference was organized by the Alpine Club of Pakistan in collaboration with the Bagh Alpine Club and the Medical Transcription and Billing Company (MTBC), said a press release.
The speakers noted that the activities and festivals of winter sports had recently witnessed an upsurge in different mountain regions of the country. The activities were held occasionally for a short period but no one talked about their continuity and sustainability, they said.
Ali Shoukat, General Manger of MTBC, welcomed the participants and highlighted the contribution of his company to the local community and the promotion of winter sports tourism under the initiative of social corporate responsibility.
He underlined the need to facilitate tourists toward more destinations.
ACP President Abu Zafar Sadiq introduced the concept of sustainable sports tourism and stressed the need to enhance the understanding of the role of stakeholders and build synergies among them.
While inviting the attention of the house towards alarming sold waste and unchecked construction of buildings, posing threat to sports Dr Mubashar from the Women University Bagh suggested that strict regulations were required to improve the situation.
The representatives of line government departments, civil society organizations, community, tourism and sports industry, including Syed Zubair Hassan Zubairi, Kamran Nasim, Akaram Awan, Ali Syed, Nisar Shaaiq, Tariq Bashsir, Rais Inqlabi, Suhail Hassan, Abdullah Sarfraz, Kamran Nasim took an active part in the discussion.
Abdul Sattar, representative of the Prime Minister of AJK and Shahid Islam, Deputy Director General, of Pakistan Sports Board in their remarks said the Federal Government and Azad Jammu & Kashmir Government had already taken various steps to promote responsible tourism and would further enhance cooperation among the different tiers of government and stakeholders to build synergies for the sustainability of not only winter sports tourism but summer tourism as well.
Ammanullah Mani, Secretary of the Bagh Alpine Club, thanked the participants for their active participation and assured them that the outcome of the conference would be shared with all the stakeholders.