National Coordination Committee (NCC) To Be Formed For Boosting Tourism Development

ISLAMABAD, Aug 19 (APP):The government on Wednesday announced to form the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Tourism and provincial tourism authorities to uplift the sector by enhancing the coordination between the centre and federating units.

 The decision was made in a high level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan here to discuss the measures for promotion of the tourism sector.

 Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, special assistants to the prime minister Lt Gen (Retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari, Dr Shahbaz Gill, Advisor to the Punjab Chief Minister Asif Mahmood, provincial chief secretaries and other senior officers attended the meeting.

The prime minister directed for the formation of the NCC on Tourism to uplift the sector by improving the coordination between the federal and provincial governments.

He also instructed for holding the regular meetings of the would-be formed coordination committee.

The prime minister directed for the early establishment of provincial tourism authorities and launch a drive to cleanse the tourist points of encroachments.

The meeting decided to formulate a comprehensive waste management plan and introducing standard travelling facilities in cooperation with the private sector.

The prime minister was told that a National Tourism Strategy 2020-2030 had been finalized to improve coordination between the center and federating units and take practical measures to uplift the tourism sector. Under the 10-year strategy, an action plan for next five years had also been devised.

A national calendar of events had been designed to hold multiple events besides setting uniform standards for every sector related to tourism.

In the meeting, a progress report was also presented on the implementation of decisions to ensure productive use of official rest houses, governor houses, and government guest houses.

Reiterating his call for the productive use of the said buildings, the prime minister directed to ensure the availability of those buildings to the public and utilize the revenue for preservation and renovation of the buildings.

Addressing the meeting, the prime minister, while citing the country's tourism potential, said the government desired to develop countrywide tourism points in a way to reflect local culture and values besides providing quality services to the tourists.

He said the promotion of varied nature of tourism would accelerate the economic activities and besides creating job opportunities for the local population. The prime minister also directed to introduce a comprehensive strategy to uplift the tourist points.