ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has appointed Special Assistant to PrimeMinister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development SayedZulfikar Bukhari as an acting chairman of a 25-member National TourismCoordination Board (NTCB).
The NTCB and its nine working groups has been established with the approvalof Prime Minister Imran Khan, a notification issued by the cabinet divisionhere Wednesday said. The working groups included Cultural, Heritage andArcheology, Eco-Tourism, Branding and Tourism Marketing, Regulatory andPolicy Reforms, Religious Tourism, Adventure Tourism, InfrastructureDevelopment and Facilitation, Trans-Himalayan Jeep Rally and InvestmentEncouraging group.
The board, approved by the federal cabinet in its recent meeting, was aimedat strengthening coordination among international, federal and provinciallevel tourism departments to encourage the tourism industry. It woulddevise a policy to highlight the true potential of country’s tourism sectorthrough promotional campaigns and marketing, the notification added.
The NTCB would work out different strategies to attract investment intourism sector with the help of Economic Affair Division, Board ofInvestment (BoI) and other relevant departments.
The board would help the provinces to formulate a regulatory framework forensuring quality standards in the field of hospitality, besides extendingtechnical assistance to them. The NTCB would also coordinate with theprovincial authorities to make sure the country’s representation in tourismrelated international units and expos.
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The NTCB had also been asked to provide a platform to the provinces fordeliberating over the future action plan to boost tourism relatedactivities in the country.
The implementation of rules and regulation pertaining to the no objectioncertificate and new visa policy would be responsibility of the board.
The BoI chairman, Inter-Provincial Coordination secretary, all fourprovinces, Azad and Jammu Kashmir and Gilgat Baltistan tourism departments’officials, Pakistan Association of Tour Operators chairman, Travel AgentsAssociation chairman, Pakistan Hotel Association chairman and some privatemembers would be the part of this board.
