Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan constituted the National Coordination Committee on Tourism (NCCT) to “steer the country towards becoming the fastest growing tourism destination”, read a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday.

According to the notification, the committee will seek to raise the competitiveness of the tourism industry and “maximize utilization of Pakistan’s natural, cultural, historical, archeological, religious and geographical tourist assets for employment creation, poverty reduction, sustained economic growth, social inclusion and quality of life improvement”.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfi Bukhari will be the committee’s convener.

The committee has been constituted to facilitate and coordinate the government’s commitment to give tourism a priority in mainstream development and steer the country towards becoming the fastest-growing tourism destination.

The Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development will be the convener of the committee.

According to the Terms of Reference, the committee will oversee and review the implementation of national tourism strategy and integration of provincial and regional policies.

It will act as a focal point for inter-provincial, inter-ministerial, inter-departmental, and inter-agency coordination to resolve implementation issues with respect to the tourism development sector.

Geo-mapping and profiling of all the tourist spots and tourism and hospitality business and products will also come under the scope of the committee. It will identify barriers to tourism development with complete recommendations for their removal to create an enabling environment for the tourism sector.

The committee will devise an effective regulatory and implementation mechanism of national minimum standards. While ensuring its monitoring and coordination with all stakeholders for its strict compliance. The committee has been tasked to promote investments through public-private partnerships and small and medium enterprises. It will also suggest measures to promote formal training of manpower engaged with the tourism industry for capacity building.

The Convener shall brief the Prime Minister fortnightly on impediments, recommendations for improvement, and overall progress on implementation of Prime Minister’s guidelines and directions.