Tourism industry: ‘Non-professional government attitude caused decline’

Corruption, not terrorism, root cause of dismal tourism in Pakistan.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s tourism industry has been on a decline due to incompetent ministers who are often unprofessional and not well-versed in the ministry they are heading, said Travel Agents Association of Pakistan (Taap) Chairman Muhammad Yahya Polani.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, he said, “Without good policies and government backup, the private sector cannot do anything and our ministers have no idea what these correct policies are”.

“For a sector like aviation and tourism, we need a professional to lead the ministry as only then can we progress ahead,” he said. “But we see that, unfortunately, the tourism industry is one of the most neglected of sectors,” he added.

Polani said the sector was dismal as the ministers and higher ups were not giving it any attention.

“I met with the prime minister at the Governor House recently and brought up the subject of promoting tourism in the country. The reply I got was that the nation is currently battling with terrorism and once it is brought under control, then the government would concentrate on tourism,” he said.

Polani said that billions of dollars can be earned through the tourism sector and promoting it is one of the easiest ways to uplift the entire economy as it encourages employment.

Tourism has many allied sectors like aviation, hotels and rent-a-car, he said, adding that other businesses like restaurants, local recreational destinations, shopping malls and bazaars all benefit.

The nation, however, lacks facilities for foreigners. “To promote Pakistan for tourists, we will need to improve education, health and improve law and order,” he added.

Citing the example of Sri Lanka, which has emerged from a 25-year-long civil war he said that Pakistan should learn from them.

Responding to a question on why the private operators do not take the initiative to improve the tourism industry, Polani replied that there were too many obstacles from within the ministry.

Similarly, he said, when the question of establishing schools specialising in teaching tourism and hospitality management comes up, the government says that it has no budget for it.

Speaking on the positive aspect of the aviation industry, Polani said that while the rest of the world has moved to online ticketing, the lack of literacy had limited the number of users who avail this facility in Pakistan- which consequently means that travel agencies still have great potential in the country.

“We are amongst the few countries in the world which still gives credit facility to our passengers,” Polani said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st,  2011.