Facilitation hub to give fillip to tourism

K-P Information Technology Board to provide necessary info to tourists under one window

PESHAWAR:

To promote tourism in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and provide all necessary information to the tourists under one window, a facilitation center, K-P Tourism Facilitation Hub 1422 (TFH 1422), has been established in Peshawar.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board (KPITB) established the Workaround, a Business Process Outscoring ready facility (BPO) to provide workspace to national and international BPO companies to promote BPO industry in the province. KPITB charges the companies a very low and reasonable amount. The BPO companies are bound to hire workforce locally, said Communication Manager KPITB, Danish Baber.

He said that KPITB established Workaround with the aim to provide best and safe environment to BPO companies and create job opportunities for the youth of K-P. “Currently four BPO companies are stationed at Workaround. Sybrid is one of them. They provide helpline (call center) facilities to Health and Tourism Departments of K-P”, Baber added.

Talking The Express Tribune, tourism specialist and senior supervisor with Sybrid, Anees Dildar said that they started the testing project from November 2020 in K-P with the help line number 1422 to facilitate the tourists and promote tourism in K-P.

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He added that around 15 Call Center Representative Agents, including men and women, are working with Sybrid in TFH 1422. They monitor and provide information to the tourists who travel the tourist spots of KP.

He said that they (Call Center Agents) inform tourists about the weather condition as well as about hotel booking, best spots, traffic etc, adding that the tourist can register complaints by simply dialing 1422. “During emergency we also mobilize authorities to handle the situation,” he said.

He added that every day they receive more than 100 calls. Most of the people call about information regarding tourist spots and make complaints about waste management.

He said that due to Covid-19 tourists flow has tapered off in the province. They inform the tourists to not visit because of the spread of Covid-19 but in future such steps will facilitate the tourists coming to K-P.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Managing Director of KPITB, Dr Sahibzaba Ali Mahmud said that KPITB established Workaround with financial and technical support of the World Bank and Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) to attract local and international companies to invest in K-P and boost the BPO industry in the province.

He added that hosting Tourism Facilitation Hub 1422 as well as the Covid-19 Helpline 1700 is the success of the Workaround and K-P government.

He said that soon a renowned international BPO and IT company will also join Workaround and it will help create more than a hundred new job opportunities for the youth.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2021.