ISLAMABAD, Feb 10 (APP): The Consortium for Asia-Pacific and Eurasian Studies (CAPES), in collaboration with Indonesian Embassy Pakistan and Indonesian Students Association Islamabad (PPMI), hosted a discussion on the topic titled “Indonesia’s Experience of Tapping Tourism: Lessons for Pakistan,” at the Indonesian Corner, National Library Islamabad.
The discussion brought together prominent experts, business community, academics, and students from Pakistan and Indonesia. The discussion aimed to explore lesson for Pakistan from tourism policies, community engagement and sustainable practices adopted by Indonesian tourism sector, said a press release.
Delivering the keynote address, Rahmat Hindiarta Kusuma, Minister Counsellor for Information, Social & Cultural Affairs at the Indonesian Embassy of Pakistan said that through culture of mutual respect, dialogue and trust, Indonesian tourism industry has been able to encompass diverse array of tourists and welcomes everyone from across the globe.
He also highlighted that Pakistan has great tourism potential as tourism industry in Pakistan in 2025 amounted to US$ 4.9 billion, and is expected to double in 2031. To promote tourism between Indonesia and Pakistan, he recommended the launch of direct flights between the two nations and boosting connectivity through CPEC. Thus, discussions like this provides a good opportunity to connect business and academic community.
Dr. Muhammad Shoaib, Senior Vice President CAPES, underscored that Indonesian tourism industry presents a case study for Pakistan to showcase their culture, sites and attract tourists from all over the world. He recommended that Pakistan should explore more tourism sites within country especially the marine sector and should be able to promote cultural and heritage sites.
He also reflected the goal of CAPES to enhance P2P and cross-cultural linkages as through exchange of knowledge and mutual experiences, both countries can learn from each other.
Ali Rashah Hussein, Campus Head and Director of COTHM Online Business School, noted that in order to promote tourism, each country’s norms, values and culture needs to be understood. To promote tourism sector in Pakistan, the country should follow a lego strategy, i.e., understand what strategies best fits from Indonesia in Pakistan and vice versa.
The untapped tourism potential of the country should be explored and concept of innovative hospitality should be adopted.
Dr. Irram Waheed, Assistant Professor at SMME, NUST, underlined that Indonesia and Pakistan share multiple common factors, including the potential for halal tourism and rich Islamic heritage. Both countries should work on arranging direct flights, easing visa policies and participation in ASEAN Gateway initiative to promote tourism. Furthermore, student exchanges should not only focus on academic exchanges but also excursion and tourism-based exchanges. These can be the basis of further collaborations between the students and general public of both countries.
Ahmad Jazuli, student at the Islamic International University Islamabad shared his personal experience of travelling different sites in Pakistan highlighting the differences in urban and rural areas. He praised Pakistan for having diverse tourist sites but suggested that Pakistan government should work on infrastructure and services to realize full potential of tourism sector.
The session concluded with an insightful Q&A session.