PTDC rest houses to be effectively used for promotion of tourism: CM

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: As per the directives of Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan all is set to hand over the properties of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the provincial government as an effort to promote tourism in the province.

Both the Provincial and Federal Governments have in principle   agreed to the basic outline of handing taking over the properties and all the rest houses of PTDC in the province will be handed over to the provincial government very soon.

This was revealed in a briefing given to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa here on Monday regarding the arrangements made by Tourism Department for attracting maximum local and foreign tourists to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the upcoming season.

Besides other, Special Assistant to Prime Minister of Pakistan, Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari, Provincial Ministers Taimoor Salim Jaghra & Shaukat Yousafzai, Advisor to Chief Minister Ajmal Wazir, Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Additional Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Secretary Tourism attended the briefing.

It was informed that the Provincial Government had approved an amount of Rs. 360 Million for the HR liabilities of PTDC and another amount of Rs. 250 Million for its contribution to endowment fund of PTDC.

The participants of the briefing were further informed that an Integrated Tourism Management Plan 2020 has been prepared to attract maximum local and foreign tourists to the newly identified tourists sites of KP in the upcoming season; and under the plan various departments including Local Government, Health, Communication & Works, Home, Rescue 1122, Divisional Commissioners and District Administration have been assigned special tasks to facilitate the tourists maximum.

These tasks include provision of basic medical treatment facilities, sanitation and cleanliness, solid waste management, rehabilitation of roads, security of tourists, provision of foods and POL in case of emergency, provision of temporary toilets, establishment of tourists facilitation centers and other necessary arrangements in the tourists spots.

It was also told that Tourists Facilitation Hub had been setup at provincial level to monitor the completion of the tasks assigned to the above mentioned departments and to receive complaints from the tourists in this regard.

Similarly, a mobile application and portal has also been developed to provide all the required information to the tourists in an easy way.

The Chief Minister and Special Assistant to Prime Minister while showing their satisfaction on the arrangements of the tourism department, stressed the need of coordinated and uniform strategy for both the Provincial in Federal Governments to promote tourism as per the vision of the Prime Minister Imran Khan so that maximum results could be achieved in minimum time and resources.

On this occasion Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari informed the participants that the Federal Government is working on branding the entire country to project it as a tourists spots at international level which is expected to be launched in the mid of next month by the Prime Minister himself. The Chief Minister Mahmood Khan term the Integrated Management Tourism Plan as a mile stone for the promotion of tourism in the province and direct the concerned quarters to ensure the timely completion/implementation of the tasks assigned to various departments under the plan. He also directed the concerned quarters to carry out a comprehensive communication campaign to project tourism potential of the province both at national and international level.