News: 'Pakistan has weak travel & tourism regulatory framework'
URL of the Website:http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\03\04\story_4-3-2008_pg5_10
Date of publication: Tuesday, March 04 , 2008

STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been ranked at 103 out of 124 countries around the world, underlining a weak travel and tourism regulatory framework, low prioritisation of the industry by the government, low effectiveness of marketing and branding and a constricted tourism perception.

These facts and figures were revealed by the World Economic Forum's Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008 (TTCR), which highlighted the competitive advantages and disadvantages in Pakistan's tourism and reinforced the importance of environmental sustainability.

Some of the other competitive disadvantages for Pakistan include the poor tourism infrastructure such as provision of competitive hotel rooms (110), available ATMs accepting Visa cards (110), the national and cultural resources (96) and the prevailing security situation (106) among 124 countries.

Despite showing many competitive disadvantages in the travel and tourism industry, Pakistan ranked well on the air (40) and ground transport infrastructure (39). The price competitiveness in the industry maintains a very viable position based on the low fuel price level (23), purchasing power parity (25) and the extent and effect of taxation (33). Pakistan will, however, like many other countries needed to focus on the sustainability of its natural environment.

The data for Pakistan has been prepared based on a combination of data from publicly available sources, international travel and tourism institutions and experts as well as the results of the executive opinion survey, which was carried out last year by the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF) in Pakistan.

Arthur Bayhan, Chief Executive Officer of the CSF shared that CSF, being the partner institution of the WEF in Pakistan, was deeply engaged in the issues of competitiveness and was working with both the public and private sector as well as the academia in Pakistan to improve the global ranking of the country. He shared that the Executive Opinion Survey was a major component of The Global Competitiveness Report, which is published each year by the WEF.

CSF further shared that it is currently working on preparing the second State of Pakistan's Competitiveness Report for 2007-08. This report is a deeper reflection of the Global Competitiveness Report and will provide a snapshot of the strengths and weaknesses along with key positive and negative trends in the national economy, as well as regional competitiveness trends in each of the provinces.

The report helps Pakistan in measuring the factors that contribute to developing the weak travel and tourism industry and also demonstrates the importance of supportive business and regulatory frameworks, coupled with world-class transport and tourism infrastructure with a strong focus on developing human and natural resources.

The TTCI measures the factors and policies that make it attractive to develop the weak travel and tourism sector in various countries.