“Rethink Tourism” Collectively: PTDC MD Aftab

News Desk

Islamabad: Pakistan Tourism Department Corporation (PTDC) Managing Director Aftabur Rehman said the World Tourism Day always provides us a good opportunity to come together and celebrate the achievements of tourism sector.

In his message issued in connection with the World Tourism Day, PTDC Aftab said it is also time to reflect back and think carefully what was done good and what bad. There are always prospects to learn good lessons from our mistakes.

The top tourism administrator said as the world has opened up again after the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to rethink that how we need to move forward in the changing world where threats of climate change and global warming have made us more vulnerable to face unexpected challenges of natural and manmade disasters.

“We now need to seriously think about tourism that is more sustainable, more responsible, more resilient, more inclusive and more empowering for the planet and for the people who live on it,” he said.

The MD said that Pakistan was among the top few countries which were facing the highest risk of disasters due to impacts of global warming and climate change.

“We all are witness of the recent glacier outbursts, flash floods, unprecedented rains and high exposure to flooding. This has also greatly damaged the tourism infrastructure besides heavy losses to the life and properties of people all across Pakistan.

Many heritage sites have faced serious damages and many natural landscapes of tourist areas have been eroded. This will be even further intensified in near future because the risk of natural disasters is getting more and more severe with every passing year.

The MD said that all this allows stepping back for a while and rethinking about the new dimensions of tourism which are not just focusing on economic growth and more profitability but it should also aim at inclusive growth and long term benefit for citizens especially the local communities which are already living on the edge.

The managing director said that the stakeholders in tourism industry now need to prepare for future challenges which require collaboration and a sense of inter-connectedness between one another. The time is now here let us seizing this opportunity to rethink how we do tourism.