Addressing as Chief Guest, Ahsan Ali Mangi Secretary Investment Department Sindh urged the private sector to have investments on the tourism side as the government is there to ensure building the necessary infrastructure and regulations. The event organisers said that Advisor to Prime Minister for Commerce Textile Investment Industry and Production Abdul Razak Dawood and Special Assistant to PM for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Chairman National Tourism Board Sayed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari had consented to grace the event but both could not attend the ceremony due to their busy schedules in Islamabad.
Mangi said the private sector can play a leading role to attract foreign tourists. Allah Almightily has gifted Pakistan with a diversified culture, rich civilisation, languages, historical monuments, unique seasons, long costal belt, deserts, lush green valleys, lakes, mountains, and beautiful landscapes. These things can make this country one of the international tourist destinations, if required facilities are provided to the visitors.
Comparing, he said that Turkey received some $40 billion foreign exchange from tourism last year, as the country attracted some 56 million tourists in that period. France was the top with 89 million tourists, while Pakistan could attract only 1 million foreigners. Mangi underscored the need of encouraging the local tourism arguing that 50 million domestic tourists paid visits to different points from Karachi to Gilgit-Baltistan last year.
He said number of foreign tourists can increase manifold, as the country has a verity of tourists' points while the security situation has been considerably improved, particularly in context of Sindh. Zohair Naseer, Managing Director Badar Expo said the natural beauty of Pakistan is unmatched. The world's beautiful places to visit are present especially in the northern areas of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. Our country is globally famous for its lush green valleys, snow covered, sky-high mountain peaks, mighty rivers and serene lakes.
"Our primary aim in organising and launching the Hospitality Exhibition is to support government's endeavour and the Prime Minister's personal vision to promote tourism in the country. We also wanted to provide a platform to the different industries and sectors that are directly and indirectly involved with tourism such as hotels, restaurants, airlines, travel agencies, etc. to showcase their services and product portfolios.