Daily Times

Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) and Pakistan Embassy at Myanmar Tuesday organized a webinar in the federal capital with participation of tour operator companies from both sides to explore the potential to promote Buddhist heritage and religious tourism in Pakistan and develop B2B linkages among the tour operators of both countries.

Representatives of as many as 20 tour operator companies from Myanmar and 10 companies from Pakistan attended the webinar that discussed the resumption of International flights in Myanmar after 2 years that has been very well received by local and foreign tour operators and consider it an ideal time to promote Pakistani tourism with a focus on Buddhist heritage and religious tourism.

The participants from Myanmar were of the view that Gandhara civilization of Pakistan (Buddhist archaeological heritage sites) will be of great interest to Burmese tourists besides other tourist attractions.

Managing Director PTDC Aftabur Rehman Rana on the occasion said the webinar was organized to promote tourism potential of Pakistan in Myanmar as Pakistan’s Buddhist heritage has lot to offer to the millions of tourists from Myanmar, Japan, China, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong and many other Far Eastern countries.

Pakistan welcomes tourists from across the world every year to its various tourist sites while the presence of revered pilgrimage sites that date back to 5,000 years is a boost to the religious tourism in Pakistan, he said, adding that government was committed to promote tourism through various projects and initiatives while PTDC being the prime institution of tourism was playing its due role in this regard.

MD PTDC also gave a visual presentation to the participants about tourism sites in Pakistan, geographical importance of the region, great opportunities of mountain tourism, landscape diversity, ancient silk road that connects China and Pakistan to Central Asia, the mighty mountain ranges of Karakoram Himayalas and Hindukush, hundreds of beautiful lakes, fascinating coastal beauty, historical legacies including Mehrgarh and Mohenjodaro, world heritage sites, sacred sites of Hindu Religions etc.

DrNadeem Omar Tarrar, Director of Gandhar Resource Center Taxila gave a detailed presentation on the Buddhist heritage in Pakistan and highlighted the potential of Buddhist tourism in the areas of KP and Punjab Province. Col. Imran, Defense Attaché of Pakistan at Yangon talked about the facilitation of Pakistan Embassy in Myanmar for the promotion of Buddhist heritage tourism in Pakistan. Later discussion was held among the tour operators of both side and they discussed possibilities of different tour packages to facilitate the tourist flow to Pakistan from Myanmar.