1.75m tourists visited Pakistan in 2017, says PTDC

[Devil Soul]

1.75m tourists visited Pakistan in 2017, says PTDC
APPUpdated April 25, 2018
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Following an improvement in the security situation, tourism in Pakistan has increased by 300per cent over the past few years, it emerged on Wednesday.

According to the report, 1.75 million tourists visited Pakistan in 2017 alone. Statistics from the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) show that 30pc travellers were domestic.

Also read: Reviving Pakistan’s tourism

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), last year, revenue from tourism contributed around $19.4 billion to Pakistan's economy and made up 6.9pc of gross domestic product. The WTTC expects that amount to rise to $36.1 billion within a decade.

Apart from an increase in annual tourism, there has been a significant increase in business travelling around the country as well.

Explore: 16 Pakistani tourist spots you must visit in 2016

A lot of credit for the rapid increase in tourism and travelling goes to publicity of different tourist spots through the internet.

The government has been making efforts to promote tourism and make PTDC a financially viable organisation, Managing Director PTDC Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor told APP.

He said that PTDC and the University of Management and Technology (UMT) Lahore had signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the sponsorship of the tourism department's publicity material including banners, website, seminars, and conferences.

Products and services of PTDC will also be promoted through social media.

Recently, PTDC has also launched a Pakistan Tourism Friends Club, in which members of the club will get exclusive 20pc discount on PTDC facilities.

 

[war&peace]

Pakistan can easily hit a 100 million mark by improving the security, proper infrastructure development, educating the people and tourism friendly services like making visa process easy and logical for the tourists from the west and OIC member countries. However keep the terrorists and jealous people out.

 

[Maxpane]

Education and training and advertisement is necessary . Advertisement to promote tourism and advertisement to bring awareness in people is the need of the time

 

[war&peace]

Education and training and advertisement is necessary . Advertisement to promote tourism and advertisement to bring awareness in people is the need of the time

Tourists themselves are the best advertisers...no need to run expensive ad campaigns rather focus on the development of human resource and infrastructure, the tourist will come as a side effect. Furthermore, never focus too much on tourism as a major source of income since Pakistan is a large country with a lot of resources that can make Pakistan one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Tourists are good, rather good tourists are good.

 

[N.Siddiqui]

Pakistan can easily hit a 100 million mark by improving the security, proper infrastructure development, educating the people and tourism friendly services like making visa process easy and logical for the tourists from the west and OIC member countries.

I am sure quite a few foreign tourists must have made Pakistan their travel destination after looking at the Travel& Tourism related threads here on PDF, there are many of them here started by volunteers including you and me, and writing positive articles also contributes to it.

Also on Google search these PDF threads also shows and can be seen and opened up...this is a big thing if looked into the context of perception management. Not only people visiting PDF can see it, the members, but random search can result in PDF threads showing up to masses.

According to the report, 1.75 million tourists visited Pakistan in 2017 alone. Statistics from the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) show that 30pc travellers were domestic.

I am sure more people will visit your PDF threads if you make your avatar more attractive/serious....just the other day one of my nephew was looking at my computer screen, I was typing, he ran away scared looking at the avatar...this is just a friendly advice.

 

[war&peace]

I am sure quite a few foreign tourists must have made Pakistan their travel destination after looking at the Travel& Tourism related threads here on PDF, there are many of them here started by volunteers including you and me, and writing positive articles also contributes to it.

Also on Google search these PDF threads also shows and can be seen and opened up...this is a big thing if looked into the context of perception management. Not only people visiting PDF can see it, the members, but random search can result in PDF threads showing up to masses.

We have a lot of potential to develop tourism. Gwader should be developed as a tourist friendly city and it can compete with likes of Dubai and Singapore rather offer far more than these cities-states to the tourists since Pakistan has one of the largest and most diverse landscape ensemble to offer. Furthermore, CPEC will result in business and trade related tourism. Gwader airport should naturally be made a regional hub for the air traffic and couple it with visa on arrival service. So launching a lot visa categories will be necessary to facilitate and regulate the flow of tourists, visitors and immigrants to and from Pakistan. People should be educated and welcome or at least not bother...which is already quite good in Pakistan as compared to region but can be made much better. Education will go a long way in achieving that goal.

That time is not far when Pakistan's "nay" and "yay" will decide world's opinion....and the light at the other end of tunnel can already be seen.

just the other day one of my nephew was looking at my computer screen, I was typing, he ran away scared looking at the avatar...this is just a friendly advice.

I think avatar is reflection of your personality or at least that's how the world views it.

 

[N.Siddiqui]

Google search shows PDF threads as well and it is a force multiplier I think. I started a thread on PDF about the female Dutch backpacker traveler Nora visiting Pakistan alone, this can be searched at Google search and just about any thread with random words.

The point is PDF is building a counter narrative to the bad media perception created by many western media houses and all that. You have written about it that you knew her and was a colleague of yours...

 

[war&peace]

Google search shows PDF threads as well and it is a force multiplier I think. I started a thread on PDF about the female Dutch backpacker traveler Nora visiting Pakistan alone, this can be searched at Google search and just about any thread with random words.

The point is PDF is building a counter narrative to the bad media perception created by many western media houses and all that. You have written about it that you knew her and was a colleague of yours...







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Agreed... and that is why I said the tourists themselves are the best advertisers.
Now tell you about Nora, she didn't make a review video about Pakistan immediately after finishing Pakistan leg of her trip as she made for Iran and India...She expressed her opinion about Pakistan long after finishing her bike trip in Indonesia...so she compared Pakistan with rest of countries she visited and realised that Pakistan is, quite contrary to international media's narrative, among the best places where a lonely white girl felt safe, did not get sick and no mob harassed her. She was sleeping in camps in desolate places like Deo Sai and Astor etc.
But in India, crowd starred heck out of her

 

[N.Siddiqui]

Agreed... and that is why I said the tourists themselves are the best advertisers.
Now tell you about Nora, she didn't make a review video about Pakistan immediately after finishing Pakistan leg of her trip as she made for Iran and India...She expressed her opinion about Pakistan long after finishing her bike trip in Indonesia...so she compared Pakistan with rest of countries she visited and realised that Pakistan is, quite contrary to international media's narrative, among the best places where a lonely white girl felt safe, did not get sick and no mob harassed her. She was sleeping in camps in desolate places like Deo Sai and Astor etc.
But in India, crowd starred heck out of her

Yes she seems to be very strong headed and straightforward girl, I recall you've written this and that Dutch people don't mince words and will tell truth straight on your face, no diplomacy and no duplicity as well...this is a very good thing and Pakistanis need to get this trait as well.

I have seen all her videos and she seems to have fallen in love with all the pristine, breathtaking wonders of northern Pakistan, Hunza, Astore, Deosai, Shardu other stunning areas as well.

And the most important thing is she broke the stereotypes, all wrongly associated with Pakistan and that a female lone Dutch traveler can not only travel safely all the way up but can stay in camps outside the city areas and in the wilderness without any harm being done.

She specially praised the people more, the hospitality and the generosity of GB people...she need to visit Chitral region of KPK, Kalam, Swat, Kumrat valley and dozens of areas here in KPK, the landscape here is more greener than GB region, and she can also plan to tour Azad Kashmir region of Pakistan, again different and the greenest in Pakistan...you can let her know this.



So I traveled to Pakistan last year and it has left a big impression on me...Dutch traveler Nora.

and that is why I said the tourists themselves are the best advertisers.

Agree to this fact...word of mouth promotion by tourists matters most. Like three tourists visiting Pakistan will bring with them 6 more tourists on next visit and there will be a force multiplier...advertising and paid promotion is not that effective unless done very scientifically and with full empathy and knowledge.

 

[war&peace]

Agree to this fact...word of mouth promotion by tourists matters most. Like three tourists visiting Pakistan will bring with them 6 more tourists on next visit and there will be a force multiplier...advertising and paid promotion is not that effective unless done very scientifically and with full empathy and knowledge.

A lot of them make video blogs and post on youtube and other social media so it reaches to millions or even billions of people at the same time..

 

[N.Siddiqui]

A lot of them make video blogs and post on youtube and other social media so it reaches to millions or even billions of people at the same time..

Right video blogs is a game changer, more powerful than any advertising promotion by say PTDC or any govt. department. Check these vlogs by German tourist Simon to base camp near K-2 Pakistan, in German language though...if not seen before.

And people watching them believes it...



BackpackingSimon, a German tourist in the northern areas, Pakistan, intriguing vlogs

 

[war&peace]

@Pluralist Listen to this girl.

and why I stress on girl's opinion is that because in west they portray Pakistan as a dangerous country for females. So a lot of negative light. But these kind of vlogs tell people the true picture...experienced by them firsthand beyond any greed or bias...thus I say, givelove to everyone regardless of which country he or she is from even from Israel.

 

[Valar.]

We just need to improve the security and tourists numbers are gonna increase automatically.
More than foreigners visiting Pak, I actually care about domestic tourism. Last year, 38 million Pakistanis went for domestic tourism. We should improve it more to 100 m domestic tourists.

 

[N.Siddiqui]

More than foreigners visiting Pak, I actually care about domestic tourism. Last year, 38 million Pakistanis went for domestic tourism. We should improve it more to 100 m domestic tourists.

True, domestic tourism is more important...and it will lead to international tourism. 38 million domestic tourists last year is a good figure, will increase substantially this year.

 

[war&peace]

We just need to improve the security and tourists numbers are gonna increase automatically.
More than foreigners visiting Pak, I actually care about domestic tourism. Last year, 38 million Pakistanis went for domestic tourism. We should improve it more to 100 m domestic tourists.

True, domestic tourism is more important...and it will lead to international tourism. 38 million domestic tourists last year is a good figure, will increase substantially this year.

Domestic tourism helps make the nation more cohesive and aware about its geography, culture, resources and how to behave with each other...The people who just stay in one place for their entire lives develop a lot of stupid and false impressions about other place and people. So domestic tourism is far more important than foreign tourism. I'm not against foreign tourists visiting Pakistan but we should not consider it as an industry or a significant income source...the main advantage of foreign tourists is positive image and people to people contact.