The private sector should be taken on board to help revive the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation’s (PTDC) closed hotels, motels and restaurants, suggested the Pakistan Hotels Association (PHA). On Thursday, the PTDC shut down the operations of 36 of its motels and fired up to 450 employees, due to continuous financial losses and the coronavirus pandemic. In order to boost employment opportunities in the already-stricken hospitality industry, though, PHA chairperson Zubair Baweja recommended that the government should lease out the PTDC’s closed properties to private investors. According to Baweja, six out of PTDC’s 25 units had been declared unfit and have lain closed since last year. He stressed the need for the private sector to support the govt for the revival and prosperity of these hotels and motels, so that employment opportunities associated with the hotel industry could flourish. He said that private investors could transform PTDC’s motels into venues meeting international standards, which would also benefit the country’s tourism industry. Following the PTDC’s announcement, which delivered a blow to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of reviving the tourism sector amid the pandemic, National Tourism Coordination Board (NTCB) chairperson Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari had rubbished rumours of the corporation shutting down. Instead, he said, restructuring was under way to transform it into a vibrant organisation with a better workforce and improved policy making.
