With the compliments of the
Directorate General Public Relations,
Government of the Punjab, Lahore.
Ph: +92 42 99201390-1-2
Secretary Tourism and Archaeology Department (TAD) Capt (R) Mushtaq Ahmad chaired an online orientation meeting with the World Bank's (WB) team at PTEGP office. Task Team Leader (WB) Ms Kiran Afzal, Tourism Consultant (WB) Umar Yar Khan, Project Manager PTEGP Waqas Malik and Specialist (Monitoring and Evaluation) Usman Wazir attended the meeting.
During the meeting the secretary TAD was briefed about the ongoing schemes of the project costing Rs55 million with a gestation period of 5 years. “The objective of the project is to enhance tourism as a product and infrastructure of the tourist sites, particularly, roads,” said PM PTEGP. During the discussion, the destination investment management plan was discussed in which the Secretary added that tangible results are required especially the hilly areas of the province. “Along with archaeological sites we also need to focus on religious tourism as well because we have got very important religious sites all over Punjab that need to be taken care of", observed the Secretary. “Shuttle service to be introduced from Rawalpindi to Murree for sightseeing purposes for the visitors,” the secretary added. Site Management Plan (SMP) with respect to tourism at different sites including religious as well as archaeological sites was discussed during the meeting. Regarding the TIC (Tourists Information centres), the secretary directed to introduce Tourists Information Centres (TICs) at motorways and airports to facilitate more tourists seeking information about sites. The PTEGP team briefed about the tourism application and flagship website to which Secretary TAD directed to make them user friendly for both national and international audience. It was also decided to further review ongoing schemes in coming days.