June 3, 2002	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21,1423

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ISLAMABAD, June 2: The tourism industry can generate a revenue of $1 billion annually if a right mix of management and human resource development policies are implemented, says a former PTDC official.

According to the former managing director, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Islamabad had a tourist potential

which could be exploited to create employment opportunities for the local population, specially the marginalized people living in the rural areas of the capital.

Talking to a group of journalists here on Sunday, he said the rich flora and fauna, the historic shrines of the capital, the majestic mountains and the scenic picnic spots were so far unexplored.

He said Islamabad, with its vast potential to be a starting point for tourists visiting the country, had not been marketed internationally. He said a plan, which envisaged Islamabad as the gateway to Pakistan, could be implemented.

He said the opportunity to utilize Pakistan as a main tourist attraction during the International Year of Mountains (IYM) had fallen prey to bureaucratic inertia which believed in maintaining the status quo.

Nepal, he said, despite its involvement in conflicts managed to make an excellent use of the International Year of Mountains to promote the mountains and contribute to sustainable development in its mountainous regions.

Nepal had less number of peaks than Pakistan, but the marketing of the country’s tourism resulted in additional tourist interest and business in the country, he said.

Expressing dismay over the financial mismanagement in the industry, the former managing director said poor financial record keeping was one of the stumbling blocks to ascertain the exact amount of revenue earned per annum through tourism.

As a result, some of the revenue was pocketed by the corrupt nexus existing in the industry which had to be purged, he said.