PESHAWAR: Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP) has launched a tour operating agency in Islamabad to promote tourism sector in the province.

A press release, issued here on Tuesday, said that Provincial Minister for Tourism Mehmood Khan was chief guest at the launching ceremony, which was hosted by his namesake Mehmood Khan, the managing director of TCKP.

The officials of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, tour operators and USAID besides special guest Ashraf Aman, the first Pakistani to reach the summit of K-2, attended the ceremony.

“Tourism is second biggest earner and employer in the world. Many countries are trying to develop this industry through man-made efforts,” the minister told the participants of the event.

He said that Pakistan in general and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular possessed vast resources of natural attraction for which no great investment was required.

The minister said that tourism was top priority of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government as it was committed to promote and develop the sector. He said government wanted to encourage private sectors for promotion of tourism. He said that they had worked for protection and preservation of culture, traditions, history, heritage, environment and wildlife of the target areas.

Mr Khan also highlighted some of the initiatives taken by the provincial government for promotion of tourism including setting up a five star hotel, chairlift and Ski resort in Swat; tourism resort at Galyat; chairlift project from Naran to Lake Saifum Maluk; tourist resort at Hund village, theme park in Galyat; and chairlift project at Mushkpuri, Miranjani and Shogran.

Speaking on the occasion, the TCKP managing director said that it was a big achievement to launch tour operating agency to attract tourists to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that the tour plans were shared at World Tourism Exhibition at Berlin, Germany with the delegations of Japan, North and South Korea, Nepal, China, Maldives, Taiwan and Thailand. “They appreciated our tour programme and promised to include it in their visit itinerary,” he said.