KARACHI: FPCCI’s Vice President Shaikh Sultan Rehman has said that the measures taken by the Pakistani Government for the promotion of tourism attracted international media attention.
The statement came during a Specialized Committee meeting of ECO Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ECO-CCI) on Tourism. The meeting was held through a video link.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Chambers of Commerce & Industry of member countries including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and ECO Secretariat.
The FPCCI was represented by Sohail Lashari Convener and Ismail Suttar Member ECO-CCI Specialized Committee on Tourism (Pakistan Chapter) and Shaikh Sultan Rehman, Vice President FPCCI.
The Vice President FPCCI emphasized the need for the promotion of tourism among the member countries. He stated that despite various activities and events on tourism, the ECO Region still lacks a comprehensive regional strategy for sustainable tourism development.
“In order to utilize the great potential of the region, diversification and easement of tourism activities, availability of quality services, and visibility of the area is a necessary requirement,” he added.
On the occasion, Sohail Lashari Convener of the Specialized Committee on Tourism of ECO-CCI (Pakistan Chapter) informed the participants regarding the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry which caused losses to US$ 300 billion globally in terms of cancellation of hotel booking, closing of restaurants, disruption of air flights and others.
Ismail Suttar Member of Specialized Committee also shared the tourism prospects and hoped the tourism activities will be resumed after the removal of the pandemic.
During the meeting, member countries emphasized on bilateral and trilateral cooperation of tourism, enhancing the connectivity, promotion of regional tourism prospects, harmonization of the visa regime, holding of ECO Tourism Forum, Investment in tourism-related projects, health tourism, religious tourism, the holding of tourism exhibitions and sharing of tourism aspects.
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