ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a dialogue held to promote tourism called upon provincial governments to play their role in attracting both local and foreign tourists.

“Provinces must step up efforts to educate people, develop infrastructure and sites to attract tourists to country’s exotic destinations. There is significant scope of growth in tourism industry and it must be exploited,” said Minister for Interprovincial Coordina­tion Fahmida Mirza who was one of the guest speakers at the event titled Pakistan Tourism Dialogue.

The event was organised by a private company, the Brandhook Communication.

The minister appreciated Prime Minister Imran Khan’s interest in developing the tourism industry. “The prime minister is himself marketing the tourism potential of the country and his decision to grant on-arrival visa facility to tourists of different countries speaks of his commitment to the development and promotion of the tourism sector in the country,” Ms Mirza said.

She said that gone were the days when tourism was of least priority of the government.

Acting chairman of Nat­ional Tourism Coordination Board Zulfiqar Bukhari appealed to the private sector to invest in the tourism sector.

Guest speakers also stressed the need for collaboration between the government and the private sector to invest in the country’s tourism sector that offered returns in double digits.

Other speakers stressed the need for engaging the young generation and desc­ribed overseas Pakistanis as ambassadors who could spr­ead the word about Pakistan as an ideal tourist destination for world tourists.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2019