PM Imran forms committee to help Pakistan become fastest-growing tourist destination

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday formed a National Coordination Committee on Tourism (NCCT) to help Pakistan become the fastest-growing tourism destination.

According to a notification, the committee has been formed to raise the competitiveness of the tourism industry and maximise utilization of Pakistan's natural, cultural, historical, archaeological, religious and geographical tourist assets.

The NCCT has also been formed for employment creation, poverty reduction, sustained economic growth, social inclusion, quality of life improvement, the notification added.

Some of the members of the committee include special assistant to the prime minister on overseas Pakistanis and human resource development, secretary of Ministry of Industries and Production and secretary of Ministry of Interior.

All chief secretaries or additional chief secretaries along with State Bank of Pakistan’s deputy governor, among others are also part of the NCCT.

The notification added that secretarial support to the NCCT would be provided by the Cabinet Division.

“The convener shall brief the Prime Minister fortnightly on impediments, recommendations for improvement and overall progress on implementation of Prime Minister’s guidelines,” the notification stated.

According to the terms of references (TORs), the committee would oversee and review the implementation of the National Tourism Strategy and alignment of provincial or regional policies actions to national tourism strategy.

NCCT would also conduct geo-mapping and profiling of all tourist attractions, hospitality businesses, products and service providers in the country.

It would identify barriers to tourism development with concrete recommendations for their removal to create an enabling environment for the tourism sector to operate competitively and ensure implementation.

The committee would also devise effective regulatory and implementation mechanisms of National Minimum Standards while ensuring its monitoring and coordination with all stakeholders for strict compliance.

It would also promote tourism investment through PPP, SME and access to capital and oversee availability of international standard feasibilities of viable projects.

The committee would also devise and oversee the strategy to encourage affordable domestic tourism and identify viable options to ensure the growth of domestic tourism in a systemic manner.