KARACHI (May 28 2009): The government, media and people in Pakistan, instead of blaming Taliban and economic recession, should collectively start 'homework' to revive tourism industry in the beautiful, but militancy-hit country, where 90 per cent area is still safe for tourists.
This was stated by Bert van Walbeek, Dutch lecturer, an experienced marketer of tourism, hotelier and Managing Director of 'The Winning Edge,' a crisis management firm, during an exclusive interview with Business Recorder here on Wednesday. Jackie Ornuma Tisapramotkul Associate Director, Membership Services, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) was also present on the occasion.
Terming Pakistan a country with beautiful people, 'incredible scenery' and historical sites, which can be a natural choice for the tourists, Walbeek urged the government to embark upon a proactive and positive-oriented 'internet driven' marketing drive to restore its soft image abroad.
Giving his suggestions to promote tourism industry in Pakistan he said putting exciting stories about mountain climbing in Pakistan on the widely-browsed websites, like youtube.com, devising a plan to work on crisis management, issuing supplements in newspapers, organising conferences and exhibitions in hotels and holding food festivals abroad are inexpensive and cheap ways to attract both local and foreign tourists.
'Tourism is all about attraction... there are over 100,000 teachers of history in Europe, bring those backpacks here and they would come because they understand it,' Walbeek, who has a 45-year experience in tourism marketing added.
Walbeek, calling inbound tourism in Pakistan a 'challenge', said it was difficult for the tourists to come in owing to the prevailing 'safety and security' concerns. 'Instead of blaming Taliban, the government, financial crisis, swine flu start saying that OK how can we start working for tourism. Let's look forward and forget about the past,' he urged.
When asked the Dutch expert if he concede that tourism is understandably not a priority for the government of Pakistan that, he said, 'much more fish to fry' in the present crises. Referring to a proverb, 'if it bleeds it leads', Walbeek said while 90 per cent area of the country is safe for tourism, he said contrary to the local and international media, like BBC and CNN, presentation which are portraying that 'Pakistan is burning.'
Giving her input Jackie Ornuma Tisapramotkul of PATA proposed an 'open communication' with these media networks to avoid sensational reporting in Pakistan. Jackie also dwelt upon the performance of PATA in connection with the promotion of public-private partnership in Asia Pacific region. Walbeek stressed the need for enhancing public-private co-operation, which could greatly help promote tourism sector.
He said besides looking for the teachers of history to play as a backpack, Islamabad could also train the university students of history in this regard. Throwing lights on the ways to boom the local hotel industry, Walbeek linked its growth with the influx of businessmen, exhibitors and tourists in the country. He further said that the leisure-seeking bankers coupled with extensive conferences organised by the world associations, including NGOs would fill up the local hotels.
