punjab tourism policy 2019

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF PUNJAB

We are committed to make Punjab as a hub of tourism

Punjab, the land of five rivers had huge potential in tourism. Promotion of tourism and development of tourist sites are among the priorities of the government. This will not only boost economic activities but also create employment opportunities for the locals.

The Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab is an autonomous body incorporated under the Companies Ordinances 1984 on the 10 th  December 1986. The Corporation is governed by Managing Director under the administrative control of Secretary, Government of the Punjab, Tourism Department. Major decisions are taken by the Board of Directors (BOD).

“To make Punjab an attractive tourist destination through inclusive planning, diversification, development and management of tourist destinations in an organized manner without disturbing socio-ecological balance in close collaboration with private sector and making tourism an engine of economic growth and poverty alleviation in the province”

Our Services

• Tourist facilitation and information
• Publicity, promotion & marketing
• Events, Conventions & conferences
• Tour Management & Guide services
• Resort & Recreational Development &Management
• Planning, Research and infrastructure development
• Human Resource Development
• Conduct feasibilty studies and Investment facilities.

Our Objectives

• To develop Tourism as a Provincial Priority Area
• To make tourism an engine of economic growth
• To upgrade and develop state of the art infrastructure
• Create and develop integrated tourism circuits
• To standardize various sectors of tourism industry
• To diversify the tourism destinations for social equity and development
• To ensure effective branding and marketing of new sites
• Support Public-Private Partnership in infrastructure development.

The Government of Punjab approved first tourism policy of Punjab in 2019. It is  a broad roadmap to develop a strong tourism base. The engine of growth for this sector would be the private sector. Private investment in the tourism sector would turn it into an effective factor for social development and poverty reduction. The policy provides guidelines to promote cultural, religious, Eco, and heritage tourism potential by increasing the access of people. The tourism policy of Punjab, therefore, aims at articulating Government of Punjab’s commitment in this regard and setting the future direction of tourism sector in the province to make it an effective link for social betterment of the marginalized communities. It will help make Punjab a truly pluralistic, tolerant, culturally confident, and vibrant society.

POLICY & GOVERNANCE

• Formulation of Punjab’s 1 st Tourism Policy.
• Establishment of independent Tourism Deptt.
• Formulation of Punjab Tourism & Heritage Authority
• Expansion and digitalization of Department of Tourism (DTS).
• Up-dation of Tourism Acts, The Travel Agencies Act, 1976, The Pakistan Tourist Guides Act, 1976 and The Pakistan Hotels & Restaurants Act, 1976
• Transformation from Public to private sector to provide opportunities for investment and quality services

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

• Offering government assets to private sector on long term leasing to invite investment under PPP mode.
• Offering TDCP assets on franchised basis like Institute of Tourism & Hospitality Management (ITHM) and Tour Operations.
• Conducting feasibility studies of strategic areas having potential of tourism for investment by private sector. Study completed for Chakwal, Khushab, Jehlum and Mianwali
• Tourism App for online services

• Outsourcing of TDCP assets to private sector on long leasing.
• Engagement of Private & International Stakeholders (MoUs)
• Tourism App and its integration with resorts and hotels for online booking
• Feasibility studies and Site Management plans for 10 potential sites of Punjab
• Digitalization of public recreational destinations;
• Establishment of Bew Tourists Zones.
• Infrastructure developments through construction of roads
• Establishment of new resorts at Kotli Sattian, Attock, Dharabi and Khabeki (Khushab)
• Restoration of hidden alcohological sites like Malot Fort (Chakwal), Tulajah Fort (Khushab)
• Installation of sign boards and washroom facility for tourists’ facilitation;
• Establishment of Tourist Information Center, Royal Studio and Souvenir shop at Shalamar Gardens and Jahangir tomb,
• Showcasing Punjab through documentaries of Punjab
• Organized successful meaningful events to promote heritage, religious tourism at Cholistan Shalamar gardens, Harrapa and Hiran Minar.
• Expansion of recreational sites with water sports equipment’s.
• Rehabilitation of Hindu Shahi Forts in Salt Range and Alberuni Field of study at Nandana Fort.
• MoU with Educational Institutions
• Youth Tourism Awareness Programme and Youth Talent Hunt Programme
• Youth Empowerment Programme through Institute of Tourism & Hospitality
• Management.
• Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Programme (7 Courses under progress)
• Demand oriented Online digital Courses (Digital Marketing, Web Designing, Social Media Marketing, 400 students from all over Pakistan)
• Online training programme for tourism industry stakeholders
• Retrieval of TDCP’s Properties
• Culture of Merit and transparent procedure has been adopted for tendering process

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

PROJECTS COMPLETED

• Punjab Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab building at Lahore,
• Eco-friendly Development of Soon Valley at Kanhatti, Khabeki and Uchali Scheme,
• Upgradation and completion of missing facilities at Patriata,
• Charehan Forest Rest House at Murree
• Parkway project at Koh-e-Suleman, Dera Ghazi Khan, Kotli Sattian and Chakwal district.
• TDCP Nankana Sahib Resort at Nankana Sahib,
• Sightseeing Bus at Rawalpindi & Bahawalpur,
• TDCP Cholistan Desert Resort Bahawalpur.
• Water sports activities at Kallar Kahar Lake, Dharabhi Lake and Sargodah.
• Fort Munroe Resort Dera Ghazi Khan,
•  Cholistan Desert Resort, Bahawalpur

PROJECTS IN PROGRESS

• Construction of Jeepable track and signage at Tilla Jogian Jehlum
• Destination Investment and Management Plans for Key Destinations in Punjab
• Construction of Tourism & Hospitality College at Harbanspura
• Provision of Transport for Sightseeing/Mystic Tours of Multan & DG Khan
• Development of Recreational Park at Tonsa, DG Khan
• Establishment of Resort and geological Park at Namal.
• Land Acquisition for construction of Resort at Attock and Kotli Sattian.
• Road connectivity and linkages of Tourist destination (Kotli Sattian)
• Rehabilitation of Changa Manga Resort.

E-Paper | September 10, 2024

Punjab takes up maiden ambitious tourism policy.

LAHORE: Acknowledging that Punjab has never utilised the economic potential of the tourism sector that remained mainstay of many countries in the world, the Punjab government has given its first Punjab Tourism Policy to make Punjab an attractive tourist destination through inclusive planning, diversification, development and management of tourist destinations.

The Punjab cabinet approved the tourism policy in its 15th meeting on July 20 aspiring to make tourism an engine of economic growth while treating the sector as a provincial priority area.

The tourism was effectively developed under the close supervision of former tourism minister Raja Yasir Humayun, but he was stripped off his tourism ministry, only hours before the cabinet approved the tourism policy. Still, Mr Humayun briefed the cabinet about tourism policy’s key features.

The Punjab Tourism Policy document explains that the UNWTO (World Tourism Barometer) had recorded a 12 per cent increase in the growth of tourism in South Asia in 2017. However, this growth was neither witnessed in Pakistan nor this growth trajectory was followed to contribute fully in the development of Pakistan.

Among other shortcomings, poor security situation, lack of trained human resources, lack of diversity in tourist destinations, poor infrastructure and weak institutional infrastructure remained the major key issues and challenges towards tapping the true potential of the sector.

In its maiden tourism policy, the Punjab government plans to develop and sell its landscape, wetlands, ecology, history, heritage, festivals, cuisine and its religious heritage and archaeological assets – without disturbing socio-ecological balance in close collaboration with private sector.

The Punjab government has proposed that the strategy for development of tourism will be driven by the government and led by the private sector. The policy requires tourist sites are developed in a planned manner and the new sites may be declared as protected sites.

The policy identifies five strategic thrust areas – building state-of-the-art tourism infrastructure, ensuring safety and security of tourists, building a strong tourism brand, developing talent for tourism services and ensuring that growth in tourism sector is sustainable.

The policy gives tourism department a direction to ensure fixing the institutions through Institutional Reform Package. It asks for federal-provincial coordination and alignment, strengthened public sector capacity for tourism sector management and supporting private sector-led growth.

Since the tourism sector potential had remained untapped, the tourism department has been entrusted the task to calibrate regulations through Regulatory Reforms Package; enact supporting laws and regulations, provide requisite financing through Tourism Investment Package, Public-Private Partnership and incentives for private sector investors.

The Punjab tourism department plans tapping religious tourism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Hinduism, spiritual tourism, cultural and heritage tourism, World Heritage Sites, Indus Valley Civilization, Mughal and British Era monuments, adventure and desert tourism, Cholistan and Thal Deserts, eco tourism, Soan Valley, Salt Range, Urban and Recreational Tourism, hilly areas of Murree in the province besides tourist attractions in Lahore, Multan and Bahawalpur.

The tourism policy proposes specific strategies for the private sector, tour operators, hoteliers, travel agents, NGOs, heritage tourism, Sufi/Mystic tourism, food safety and Tourist Information Centers.

The policy also envisages effective marketing, outreach and communications through a communications policy to reach out to multiple levels of target audience. It is required to encourage information sharing and coordination at all levels through identifying stakeholders’ engagement platforms; sustained advocacy through media and inclusion of all strata of society and reaching out to youth and women.

The policy implementation framework has been assigned to the Tourism Development Committee; High level committee to spearhead the implementation of the Policy; and Capacity building of Tourism Department and its agencies.

Acceding that the new tourism policy only marks the first step towards tourism development in the province and putting Punjab as a prominent destination on international tourist circuit, the tourism department has agreed to formulate a detailed implementation plan to put this policy in action and for rolling out reforms. The Policy also envisages mid- course policy review after two years

With the promotion of tourism, the government expects upward social mobility of the local marginalized communities and making tourism an engine of economic growth and poverty alleviation in the province.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2019

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Daily Times

Your right to know Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Punjab Tourism Policy 2019: A brief overview

May 11, 2021

Punjab Tourism Policy 2019 provides a complete road map for the future development of the tourism sector of the Province. The policy embodies a number of aspects which have been specifically focused upon. The very first among these is institutional reforms. The policy acknowledges the importance of institutions in materializing the policies of the government and provides guiding principles for reforming the tourism related institutions of the province.

The policy endorses a cross-departmental oversight mechanism, a stake holders led management structure, and a regular process of on-job capacity building in order to equip the human resource with requisite skills in accordance with the changing requirements of time.

The second aspect that has been emphasized in the policy is regulatory reforms. Punjab tourism Policy 2019 categorically declares a sound regulatory mechanism to be imperative for boosting the confidence and trust of the tourists in state machinery and creating competitiveness in the tourism sector. Stringent laws and their effective implementation apparatus are the two factors which have been described as the main areas of attention in the Policy.

The Policy also delineates the importance of building state of the art tourism infrastructure and requires the government to adopt a transparent, coherent, and well-conceived approach for the purpose. It provides for distributing Punjab in different tourism zones and carrying out well planned developmental activities in accordance with the need and requirement of every zone. Engagement of the local community and other stakeholders has also been focused upon in this aspect.

Realizing the importance of tourist’s safety and security, the policy directs the government to take adequate measures for their protection against all sorts of hazards in addition to ensuring the availability of high quality services to them. It has been recommended that necessary institutional and statutory reforms be carried out for addressing all sorts of issues related with the safety and security of tourists.

The next target assigned to the government by Punjab Tourism Policy 2019 is the marketing of Punjab’s tourism potential in an effective way. It has been suggested that the government should adopt a well-calculated strategy for attracting the targeted audience. Facilitation of tourists in terms of accurate information pertaining to tourism sites and enhancing the visibility of heritage and archeological sites have been declared as immensely important tasks in the context.

Punjab Tourism Policy realizes the fact that absence of skilled human resource in the hospitality sector results in the deterioration of the image of the province and the country as a tourist destination at international level. It therefore recommends that the provincial government should take appropriate measures for improving the quality of HR related to the tourism and hospitality sector of the Province. By ensuring quality services not only this that the number of foreign tourists can be enhanced in the country, but the issue of unemployment can also be addressed in a befitting manner.

Punjab Tourism Policy is fully alive to the impotence of the role that the private sector can play in the promotion of tourism in the province. It provides specific guidelines pertaining to the fields in which the private sector can be engaged successfully. Outsourcing the operation of government owned tourist sites, leasing the state land for the construction of tourist resorts, and privatizing the management of tourism festivals and events are some of the fields in which the private sector can find ample opportunities of playing a vibrant role.

Likewise, the policy considers the facilitation of the private sector as an important tool for motivating it to join hands with the government. It has also been recommended that the government should go for “One Stop Solution” to protect the private sector from getting entangled in bureaucratic delays in the issuance of licenses, permits, and NOCs.

The policy makes specific mention of tour operators, hoteliers, and travel agents and provides necessary guidelines for improving their professional proficiency. It emphasizes the registration of all such business entities in order to standardize their performance by bringing them within the regulatory ambit of the government. It has been stressed upon that all the private organizations should try to follow international best practices in order to improve the image of the country with international tourists particularly.

Similarly, the policy directs the government to use tourism as an instrument for educating the youth in an informal way. It requires that there should be a close liaison between the tourism organizations and educational institutions to get the requisite goals. It directs the government to make necessary arrangements for providing cost effective accommodation to students at tourist sites. In order to improve inter provincial harmony, the policy suggests carrying out youth exchange programs among various provinces of the country.

In addition to the few aspects mentioned above, there are many more that have been touched by the tourism policy of Punjab. Irrefutably, the policy provides an unambiguous plan of action for the promotion of tourism in the Province of Punjab. Luckily, the Tourism Department of Punjab is extremely sincere in implementing the policy in letter and spirit.

A detailed analysis of the performance of the Tourism Department with reference to the directions of the policy will be made in the future write-ups.

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Punjab cabinet approves tourism policy

Lahore: The Punjab cabinet on Wednesday accorded its approval to the first provincial tourism policy, which is expected to be announced this month – a news source reported. Provincial Minister for Finance Makhdoom Jawan Bakht expressed his views on the matter during a meeting of the Chief Minister’s Special Monitoring Unit (SMU).

The minister directed the Archaeology Department to make efforts for the promotion of tourism, as well as to develop historical places to facilitate the said purpose.

Read:  ‘First-ever’ industrial policy introduced in Punjab: Info Minister

A meeting in connection with promoting Islamic tourism was also held at the Tourism Office. Provincial Minister for Tourism and Sports Rai Taimoor Hussain Bhatti chaired the meeting. It was decided during the meeting that a modern bus service for the promotion of Islamic tourism would be launched. It was also decided that the bus service would commence its operation from Lahore and later its scope would be extended to Multan and then to the rest of the province.

The minister was brief that the bus service would be launched to facilitate the visit of 30 sacred places in Lahore; including Darbar Hazrat Bibi Pak Daman, Darbar Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh, Darbar Hazrat Peer Makki, Darbar Hazrat Shah Jamal, Darbar Hazrat Mian Meer, Darbar Hazrat Madhu Lal Shah Hussain, Darbar Hazrat Shah Muhammad Ghous, Darbar Hazrat Shah Abdul Mali, Darbar Hazrat Shah Chiragh, Darbar Hazrat Dars Barry Mian, Darbar Hazrat Hussain Zanjani and Darbar Hazrat Shah Anayat Qadri.

Meanwhile, the authorities concerned have announced that a mobile application will be introduced for the assistance of tourists. This platform would enable them to locate tourism sites and accommodation facilities in the province.

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