Italy assures support for promoting sustainable tourism in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A major step taken to boost Pakistan’s tourism and hospitality industry, Italy has agreed to help Pakistan out in the technical aspects of tourism management,  source reported on Sunday.

his was said in a meeting between the Italian Ambassador to Pakistan Stefano Pontecorvo and Chairman National Tourism Coordination Board (NTCB) Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari on Wednesday.

The envoy said that Italy is willing to extend technical assistance to Pakistan to encourage community-based projects in the tourism sector to help alleviate poverty, support youth employment and generate income.

Appreciating Pakistan government’s recent initiatives for the promotion of tourism in the country, he said that the opening of Kartarpur Corridor was a huge achievement.

Zulfikar Bukhari said Pakistan had achieved a major milestone by opening the Kartarpur Corridor which would eventually promote the religious tourism in Pakistan.

He said the government was working on the development of ‘Brand Pakistan’ to project the country as a tourist haven that would eventually increase influx of foreign tourists.

He said the government, in collaboration with provinces, was developing the Gandhara Corridor to attract tourists from the South East Asian Countries.

“Pakistan attaches great importance to sustainable tourism in Pakistan and will focus on religious tourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism, and towards the growth of intangible cultural heritage,” he added.