Tourism Year Destination Pakistan 2007 on Dec 15

[Neo]

February 27, 2007
Omani team keen to invest in tourism

ISLAMABAD, Feb 26: President General Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan is now becoming an attractive place for investment because economy is growing at a fast pace and the government is making efforts to pass these gains to common man.

The president was talking to Minister for Tourism from Oman Dr Rajiha Bint Ameer Ali and Sameh Onsi Sawiris, chief executive of Orascom Hotel and Development who called on him here on Monday.

The delegation is visiting Pakistan to select sites for investment in the field of tourism and low-cost housing.

Welcoming the members of the delegation, the President spoke about the immense potential that Pakistan offered in the field of tourism.

He said tourism was now recognised as a valuable tool to strengthen economic, social and cultural development of any country, particularly in the case of the developing countries.

He said that tourism was also considered to be a significant source of employment for millions of people.

The delegation informed the president that during their visit to Pakistan, they had visited Karachi, Keenjhar, Gwadar, and Lahore to see the possibility of investment in hotel industry.

Mr Sameh Sawiris, whose company owns a hotel in Egypt informed the President that Pakistan had immense potential as a major tourist attraction and the purpose of his visit along with the Oman Tourism Minister was to see the possibility of joint investment in Pakistan.

Federal Minister for Tourism Ms Nilofar Bakhtiar and the Minister for Privatisation and Investment Mr Zahid Hamid were also present during the meeting.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/02/27/ebr9.htm

 

[HASEEB66]

it is true the perception about pakistan is negative on the minds of most people but a lot of people don't bother and understand it is not every part of the country and do visit..but lack of infrastructure is an even bigger hurdle for tourism but things may turn aroud...what will they do in pakistan cheap ciggarettes and pirated dvds extreamly cheap..is a big attraction..but adventurous and student groups have great attraction and that is one of the reason people pay millions of dollars to acquire license to climb K2 (VERTICAL LIMIT HOLLYWOOD MOVIE)..
pakistani marketing is pathetic australian tourism say (see you there) indian tourism says (incredible india) pakistan tourism says (visit pakistan) instead it can say (thrill pakistan or pakistan experience) etc etc..
from the depth of the arabian sea to the heights of the himalayas from the first civilisation of moen jo daro we have more than a thousand tales to tell this was the advert in 97 when then government was planning world's best kept secret...

 

[HASEEB66]

pakistan just needs to come on the tourism radar just like it did on the investment radar so today kse has $54 capitalisation exceptional increase when the tourism train will start on the track we may see two million tourists by 2011...this is how dubai shopping festival came on the tourism radar and they saw one million people in the start..

 

[HASEEB66]

i so wish i could go to Pakistan. But if i go there, there will be trouble for me in the US

Maybe i should sneak over the LoC

you will be fine what about hundreds of thousands coming every year..what about retired british citizens living..what about hundreds if thousands chinese workers

 

[Contrarian]

Infrastructure is not a problem for peeps like me, we are used to not having the best roads and best services LOL

Nah, its just that i will be going to US most probably after 2years for higher studies, to do Management, that is if i cant get into IIM. And if it is written in my visa that i visited Pakistan for say 2 weeks, then how would it look to US officials.

I mean a 19 year old kid in Pakistan for 2 weeks just before going to US! Dont take it the wrong way, but you know that US now checks and troubles people suspected of being terrorists, etc, those who have visited Pakistan, and some other countries. If i was a citizen of Pakistan, then it doesnt matter, cuz i am visiting my homeland, but that is not the case.

Apart from that there are some more reasons as well.

 

[Neo]

Com'on Malay, its not that bad. You'll love the country.
Samudra btw is also going to visit Pakistan soon as I'm told.

 

[Contrarian]

Com'on Malay, its not that bad. You'll love the country.
Samudra btw is also going to visit Pakistan soon as I'm told.

Oh i have no doubt that i will love the country, that is the reason i want to visit. The motivating factor was when Indians went over for the cricket matches, the hospitality shown to them was overwhelming and it got the media's sole and main attentention here. It was HUGE news.
People found that Pakistani people arent what Pakistan is made to be.

Its just the terrorism and US thingy along with one more thing thats preventing me from going there.

 

[HASEEB66]

Its just the terrorism and US thingy along with one more thing thats preventing me from going there.[/QUOTE]

TRUE but whats that one more thingy

 

[HASEEB66]

Infrastructure is not a problem for peeps like me, we are used to not having the best roads and best services LOL

Nah, its just that i will be going to US most probably after 2years for higher studies, to do Management, that is if i cant get into IIM. And if it is written in my visa that i visited Pakistan for say 2 weeks, then how would it look to US officials.

I mean a 19 year old kid in Pakistan for 2 weeks just before going to US! Dont take it the wrong way, but you know that US now checks and troubles people suspected of being terrorists, etc, those who have visited Pakistan, and some other countries. If i was a citizen of Pakistan, then it doesnt matter, cuz i am visiting my homeland, but that is not the case.

Apart from that there are some more reasons as well.

you're right but the thing is your 19 years old otherwise it would have been fine..it happens with one in ten but yoyre right maybe you can be in that 1 so
care is better than finding cure..i know the other problem is that you're raws agent..hahahahah.. but do visit afetr a few years..

 

[Contrarian]

I'l try my level best man, im quite keen on visiting Pakistan.

 

[Contrarian]

Samudra btw is also going to visit Pakistan soon as I'm told.

I dont remember Samudra oddly. I fainly remember the name though. Anyways, he's gonna have a blast

 

[Neo]

Tourism promotion can create new job opportunities in Pakistan, says MInister
Karachi News.Net
Friday 2nd March, 2007 (ANI)

Karachi, Mar.2 : The development and promotion of tourism in Pakistan will not help to improve career opportunities, but also decrease the poverty level in the country, said Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar on Friday.

Speaking to reporters after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SSGC regarding Destination Pakistan 2007, Bakhtiar said the federal government is marketing the historic and recreational places of Sindh at international level; and requested the media to avoid negative reporting in this regard.

Bakhtiar said the government was talking with heads of various banks to provide soft loans in connection with tourism, and added that for the upgradation of present hotels, their owners and staffs were being given training.

Measures are being taken up to run the PTDC Institute under public-private partnership, she said.

Last year, while on a visit to Britain, President Musharraf described tourism as a multi-billion industry and its improvement in Pakistan could enhance economic activities and alleviate poverty.

Referring to the share of Pakistan in the tourism, he said out of the eight per cent of the world's tourism business of South Asia, Pakistan has just a four per cent share.

He said the development of tourism would also improve job opportunities and the economic benefits of tourism would reach the poor.

The year-long Destination Pakitsn 2007 was launched last December in a bid to project and promote Pakistan as an ideal tourist destination. In all, 58 events and festivals will be held till the end of December 2007.

http://www.karachinews.net/story/231627

 

[Neo]

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

AT HOME ABROAD: Destination Pakistan 2007 —Angela Williams

The perception of alcohol as the work of the devil is just going to have to go, and go quite soon, if hordes of tourists are expected to descend on sunny Pakistan to see the snow-capped mountains and beautiful lakes, and bump up Pakistan’s economy

And on the subject, as I was two weeks ago, of ‘Visit Pakistan 2007’ (for the yearlong party), as outlined in the advertising supplement inserted in our Sunday papers by the Ministry of Tourism, there are a couple of points which space did not allow me to expound upon at that time but which I’d like to discuss now.

Firstly, whilst I appreciate the need to let everyone know about the latest push to be enlightened and moderate, it did seem rather strange that the supplement was exhorting people to visit sunny Pakistan and its snow-capped mountains, serene deserts and blah dee blah, when we’re already here. I just hope that that same supplement found its way into foreign newspapers as well; otherwise, the whole thing seems a bit daft, really.

Another issue related to Pakistan’s burgeoning tourist industry, in fact THE issue, I would have thought, is the provision of alcohol to foreign guests. For much of the globetrotting world, a meal without wine is just not on; wine is held to enhance and complement the flavour of food and is regarded as a cultured accompaniment to any meal. In Paris, (Paris France, for any American who may be reading this), I was once privy to a blazing row between husband and wife because his mother had served red wine straight from the fridge; it had not been allowed to become ‘chambrë’, to reach room temperature and “c’ëtait un bon Beaujolais!”(it was a good bottle of Beaujolais!) How could his mother have been so negligent of propriety and of the niceties of life as to serve a bottle of good red wine cold! Zut alors!

It might also be noted that wine tasting is considered by much of the affluent world to be a snobbish and very classy thing to do; to know one’s wines is just a must, my dear! At universities in Britain, one is invited to attend cheese and wine parties at the home or the office of one’s tutor. No one forces the stuff down an unwilling guest’s throat, of course, but, equally, one cannot stand in the corner muttering, “Toba, toba! Behshurm log!”

Other countries I have visited in which the majority of the population is Muslim have not been so stringently judgmental regarding alcohol, or indeed, anything else. Cairo is the most relaxed, cosmopolitan city in which all manner of dress is permissible and tolerated without a backward glance, and where one can drink whatever one pleases at restaurants. On holiday from Pakistan, I was initially astounded in Cairo to see women wearing mini-skirts, saris, burqas, shalwar kameez, maxi-skirts, hijabs, flowing robes, trouser suits, jeans, Bermuda shorts, in short, anything they bloomin’ well wanted, and they were not made to feel embarrassed about their attire. On a Nile cruise one evening, I watched in fascination as an audience member, an old lady in Islamic attire, her hair covered with a black scarf, enthusiastically applauded a pretty, scantily clad belly dancer providing entertainment to the diners.

I have noted old men in Istanbul sitting at tables on the pavement in front of cafés, tranquilly imbibing beer with their humus, olives, cheese and bread while the azaan sounded from the mosque in the same street.

Contrast the attitude to alcohol in the rest of the world with the generally held belief here that one drinks in order to lose one’s senses and to become an intoxicated, paralytic idiot. Yet this part of the world has not always been so averse to alcohol. Mirza Ghalib’s poetry includes the lines: “My eyes yearn for a blooming face, Flushed with wine, aglow like the morning.” And the great Faiz Ahmed Faiz, pride of Pakistan, makes poetic reference to alcohol in his works. I have attended parties here in Lahore at which poets waxed yet more lyrical with a little help from some liquid Muse. Prime Minister ZA Bhutto was apparently not averse to a tipple, either: “Yes I drink, but at least I don’t drink the blood of the people!”

The perception of alcohol as the work of the devil is just going to have to go, and go quite soon, if hordes of tourists are expected to descend on sunny Pakistan to see the snow-capped mountains and beautiful lakes, and bump up Pakistan’s economy. Not only are Pakistanis going to have to stop touching their ears and saying, “Toba, toba!” at the very mention of alcohol, but they’re going to have to watch alcohol being openly served in restaurants if this tourism lark is expected to take off. Strangely, none of this was mentioned in the advertising supplement inserted in last week’s Sunday papers by the Ministry of Tourism. I wonder why not?

The writer is the Academic Co-ordinator and a founder of Bloomfield Hall Schools. She has been teaching in Lahore for the past 20 years and has directed numerous highly acclaimed stage plays

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\03\06\story_6-3-2007_pg3_5

 

[Neo]

'Paradise Point be developed as tourist spot'

KARACHI (April 01 2007): The Paradise Point in Karachi be developed as tourists spot, suggested by Karachi University Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui.

He said that many of the people headed for the Northern Areas in the summer to enjoy scenic beauty there amid pleasant weather, and added that it also gave boost to the economic activities and the people in those areas get the benefit as well.

He suggested that the City Nazim should develop the Paradise Point so that the people could visit the beach during summer and enjoy with their family members.

Professor Siddiqui said that lodging and boarding facilities be created temporarily and all the required facilities be made available for at least two months every year during summer. This will help generate resources as well as create a number of job opportunities.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=545518&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Janbaz]

Unlocking deserts’ tourism potential

By Hina Mahgul Rind
KARACHI: The Middle Eastern countries, especially the UAE, projected their deserts as tourism spots and boosted their travel industry. They have nothing much but they provided all facilities up to international standards and western tourists prefer going there to have real fun.

In contrast, although we have deserts with a history, culture and much more to offer, we have not been able to capitalize on this sandy treasure. We cannot even spend a night in Thar Desert as there is no place for the tourists to stay, laments Anis Wali Mohammad, Director Finance and a shareholder of Gerry’s Group of Companies.

With a turnover of Rs5.5 billion recorded in 2006 and 1,100 employees nationwide, the group dabbles in all areas connected with the travel industry.

The government has designated this year as “Visit Pakistan 2007” year and organized several events across the country to promote this campaign but the response is not very encouraging.

Even so, Anis Wali thinks the industry is on the mend. At present it is doing pretty well not only in terms of inbound business but also in terms of activities taking place at the government level, a far cry from previous years when the industry stood completely ignored.

He says that Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar is very much involved in efforts aimed at giving the industry a much-needed shot in the arm. The ministry is also engaging travel agents to promote Pakistan’s image abroad.

Though “Visit Pakistan 2007” is a failure in the short term, the campaign itself is a reflection of the government’s seriousness about reviving the sector’s fortunes. You cannot boost a long-neglected sector overnight, he said, adding “it will take some time.”

He said prior to mounting an ambitious plan like this, you need to do some homework. Basic ingredients have to be there to attract foreign tourists and we are found wanting in them.

The government has built parks and some roads but people just won’t come to see parks and roads. There has to be much more to offer to them. There are hardly any good amusements parks for kids or good theatres where one could go and watch movies. He lamented the fact that “our tourist office is like a haunted house. Even the local people don’t know where it is.

If someone wants to find out about which places to visit in this country, they don’t know where to go. It is the contact point for tourists and it is in such a bad shape.

We have many beautiful tourist spots which could have been developed but unfortunately the governments neither developed them nor gave those places in private hands in order to boost tourism, he said.

Despite government’s efforts foreign tourists are not coming to our country in a big way. Those who do come, mostly go to the northern parts. They are reluctant to pay a trip to this part of the country like Karachi because it does not have much to offer. If they come here, it is entirely for business reasons. Even though there are a few historical sites in the interior of Sindh, the infrastructure or basic necessities are not available for the visitors.

Because the purchasing power of Pakistanis has gone down and foreign currency rates have crept up, people have cut down their unnecessary visits.

The situation is not the same as it was a few years ago when Pakistanis used to visit US and European countries. They have drastically scaled down their budgets and they now mostly go to Dubai, Malaysia and some other Far-Eastern capitals. They are hesitant to visit western countries, particularly the US, after 9/11.

And this goes without saying that tourists embark on a pleasure trip simply to relax and not to confront a situation where they have to answer probing, disconcerting questions.

He said that Pakistani tourists feel uncomfortable visiting the US because the questions they ask in the name of (US) National Security are quite offensive and humiliating. No-one would ever want to ruin his trip like this.

Visa process is another big irritant. The procedures for grant of visa have been made stricter. An applicant needs clearance from different agencies back home and in some cases it takes more than a year or two before one is through with this rigmarole.

Anis Wali Mohammad said that people still visit some European countries but their numbers have dropped sharply. All western carriers have stopped operating from Pakistan except British Airways which runs twice- or thrice-a-week flights to and from Islamabad.

People prefer Emirates Airline to reach different destinations. There are daily flights of this carrier in different timings, which is both convenient and economical for the people.

The national flag carrier, PIA, is mostly used by people travelling with families or women travelling alone, because it’s the only airline which goes directly to the US and UK destinations. One doesn’t have to get into the hassle of connecting flights, he notes.

But he added that the current problem of PIA with EU countries is quite a worrisome factor for travellers. PIA in recent years has been unorganized in terms of flights and its timings, which created frequent delays and caused inconvenience for passengers.

The News.
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=49926