1.75 million tourists visited Pakistan in 2017: report

KARACHI: Following a significant improvement in the security situation, tourism in Pakistan has increased by 300 per cent over the past few years, a report said here.

According to the report published by the APP, 1.75 million tourists visited Pakistan in 2017 alone. Statistics from the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) show that 30 per cent travelers were domestic.

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

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

A lot of credit for the rapid increase in tourism and traveling 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 20 per cent discount on PTDC facilities.