RAWALPINDI: Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Monday that the government has taken a number of steps to improve the economy and tourism by promoting regional connectivity through the aviation sector.

He was speaking at a ceremony held at a hotel in Islamabad to issue a ‘Tourism Promotion and Regional Integration (TPRI)’ licence aimed at promotion of tourism opportunities.

Under the TPRI initiative, which has been made a part of the National Aviation Policy 2019, foreigners would be issued licences to launch projects aimed at promoting tourism in the country.The minister appreciated the efforts made by the Aviation Division in formulation of the National Aviation Policy.

He said the introduction of a separate class of TPRI licence was an important development towards promotion of tourism and regional connectivity in Pakistan.

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Mr Khan said the initiative of developing tourism sector along with regional connectivity was an important step for the economic development of the previously isolated areas of the country.

“When we say there should be one Pakistan for every person it means that we have to take care of those communities who live in remote and beautiful areas of Pakistan. We need to come closer to each other for unity, and air connectivity plays a pivotal role in this.”

The minister said he realised that there were challenges; people had relatively limited purchasing power and finding a decent accommodation at economical rates could be difficult but let’s be optimistic and hope that things would gradually improve.

“We want to explore our country and are eager to meet our people in all corners of our homeland.”

He said this new category of travel was the right step to provide an opportunity to the world to explore the beauty of Pakistan without any worries of journey. People will now be able to spend more time at their cherished places in minimum traveling time and without any hassle.

The minister said though tourism industry in Pakistan had registered suboptimal performance due to various reasons such as security issues and terrorism; affordable and safe travel always impeded the growth of tourism and prevented tourists from visiting Pakistan.

“But now things are gradually changing and we have successfully improved the security situation and Pakistan has become a safe tourist destination. It is the best time to reap the benefits of improved circumstances and security situation.”He said Pakistan had also lots of potential for religious tourism and this licence can play an important role in this regard.

Aviation Division Secretary Hassan Nasir Jami said all sectors of aviation gave their best input to formulate the tourism policy. Pakistan has the privilege in tourism sector in the whole world.

He said the implementation of the aviation policy is a challenge, adding this is the first tourism promotion licence being issued to a private company.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2020