Staff Reporter
Islamabad
National Tourism Coordination Board (NTCB) Chairman Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari Thursday said concerted efforts were being made to revamp hotels of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) at par with international standards to spur economic activities and job creation in Gilgit Baltistan (GB).
Addressing a public meeting at Roundu, he said the PTDC would soon issue tender for hiring professional consultant to transform all of its GB-based hotels into top-class facilities.
Each hotel, after transformation, was expected create 150 direct jobs for locals, he added.
The NTCB chairman said the federal government had chalked out a comprehensive plan for tourism sector’s uplift in GB as it would usher in a new era of development and prosperity in scenic valley.
He said ten recreational areas had been identified for setting up tourism zones in the GB. The feasibility report of four zones had already been finalized while the rest of them were expected to be completed by the next month.
The tourism zones spanning over 100 kilometers area would be established in various localities including Hunza, Diamer, Ghizer, Shigar and Skardu with quality restaurants, tourism police and proper road infrastructure.
Zulfikar Bukhari, who also holds the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development portfolio, said the initiative was meant to create a lot of employment opportunities for the people of the GB.
Mentioning the tourism authority created in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by the provincial government, he said efforts were afoot to set up such authorities in Punjab and the GB on same pattern for reforming the tourism sector.
He also informed the GB dwellers about the federal government’s plan of setting up vocational and technical training institutions in the area to increase skilled workforce by imparting skills to the youth in the high tech and traditional trades.
Zulfikar Bukhari said his ministry would set up a branch of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation and a protectorate office to send maximum number of youth abroad for foreign employment.
