August 31, 2006

Of late, there is a sincere inclination to encourage tourism in the country by celebrating Visit Pakistan Year 2007

There had been a lot of talk for a long time about promoting tourism and devoting a year to it. But till recently, nothing had been done to indicate that the government was even remotely serious about its intentions.

However, of late, there seems to be some hope, at the federal and provincial levels of sincere inclination to go about improving things in the right way. One doesn't know if it's a pure coincidence or if there really is truth in the fast growing belief that if you want to get things done, put women in the top slot of the management.

Nilofer Bakhtiar, minister of tourism recently embarked on a round of Sindh and met up with the two dynamic women steering the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Sindh -–– Mehtab Rashdi, Secretary Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Sindh, and Rabia Javeri, Additional Secretary. With the latter already committed to improving the scenario and having set the ball rolling with regard to preserving the handicrafts of Sindh, this rare attempt at cooperation between the two departments couldn't have come at a better time.

The latter apprised her of her desire to highlight Makli, a world heritage site and of the steps taken in that direction –– such as speaking to fashion designers to take out a Makli Collection and working towards an arts and crafts fair to be held at the site -–– and her aim to upgrade the rest houses there. The idea was so well received that the minister requested a meeting with those who could help come up with ways in which the province could be made more attractive to foreigners.

Hence, an informal meeting was held recently at a cafι at the invitation of Javeri to meet Nilofer Bakhtiar. The objective of the meeting was to gather people who have in some way or the other worked towards projecting a positive image of Pakistan abroad, in order to discuss with them ways in which tourism could be promoted in Pakistan, and Visit Pakistan Year 2007 could be successfully launched. As such, there was an interesting mix of people present which included designers Noor Jehan Bilgrami, Rizwan Beyg, Faiza Samee, Sana Hashwani, Shaiyanne Malik, Sonya Batla; fashion choreographer Imran Qureshi and Durriya Kazi, Head of Department of Visual Studies, Universty of Karachi.

The meeting proved to be a fruitful one for during the discussion it became obvious that over time much has been done by just those present on the occasion to project the culture, fashion and crafts of our country abroad and that all the participants were more than willing to repeat their shows, if needed as part of the Visit Pakistan Year 2007 festivities. New ideas were also floated, many of which are not only attainable but sorely needed to breathe life into an industry that has been neglected for years.

Interestingly, while many wonderful ideas emerged from the brain-storming, there were quite a few that were dismissed by the minister as they did not fall under the purview of 'tourism' but of 'culture'. As in many other aspects of administration where departmentalisation and distribution of authority has only served to provide impediments to progress, this department, too, seems to be facing unnecessary hurdles. It is quite ludicrous to disassociate tourism from culture -–– mercifully the two fall under the same ministry at the provincial level ––– and one wonders how a full-scale effort can be launched to make Pakistan a viable tourist destination when something as important as culture cannot be promoted by the tourism department.

However, on a happier note, it is a welcome change to have the two ministries -–– at the provincial and federal level ––– working together, perhaps for the first time in Pakistan's history, and working with great chemistry, one may add. By the looks of it, the ladies will achieve what others before them have been unable to, do so for they are willing to think out of the box and push tourism. The meeting ended with the view that maybe ‘Visit Pakistan Year 2007’ could be initiated with the launch of tourism-related activities in Sindh, with other provinces following suit.

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