The President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi has stated that as Pakistan was bestowed with enormously rich cultural heritage, enchanting landscape and splendid beauties of nature, he was confident that the incumbent government would make all possible efforts to promote tourism and transform it into a robust industry.
“We are a unique and diversified tourist destination. We have, however, not been able to exploit full potential of this magnificent treasure so far,” the President said in his message on the occasion of World Tourism Day being celebrated by people around the world today.
He further said, “We live on a beautiful planet that needs to be protected and preserved. This year’s theme ‘Tourism and the Digital Transformation’ is most relevant as the world has now become a global village where most of the people are connected with each other through social and digital media.”
The President said that the strategy in the tourism industry was destined to become increasingly scientific, seeking to quantify and measure absolutely everything, adding, defining metrics for each decision and action undertaken was fundamental to maximize the tourist flow and obtain competitive advantages.
“Today, technology makes it possible to trace, interpret and cross-check everything with other data in real time,” he added.
The President said that the induction of professional manpower was a challenge for the sector. Attracting and retaining talent was basic when it came to successfully implementing strategy for sustainable growth in the tourism sector, he said.
The President further said, “Sharing economy is another trend favoured by the digital transformation to revolutionize the tourism industry. Digital transformation has brought with it both challenges and opportunities.”
“On the one hand it has opened up unexplored vistas for potential travellers, thus increasing competition for traditional travel destination. On the other hand it has facilitated the marketing aspect, wherein every visitor can potentially become an important marketing tool,” he added.
The President hoped that in the coming years, the government would make the country one of the best travel destinations in the world by effectively deploying Information Technology (IT) to promote tourism in the country.
Published in Daily Times, September 27th 2018.
