Tazeen Akhtar
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Desk hosted Ambassadors of Africa and Asia at the ministry on 10 Dec 2024 to connect them with the management of Pakistan Travel Mart, an expo to be held in Karachi from January 31 to February 2, 2025, at the Expo Center. It is the Fourth session of the International Tourism Fair managed by PTM, a private group supported by the Government of Pakistan.
This event served as a foundation for fostering collaboration with African nations ahead of Pakistan Travel Mart 2025 that will provide a platform to showcase tourism, facilitate cultural exchanges, and explore transformative trade opportunities.
The management of PTM is looking forward to building meaningful partnerships and shaping the future of tourism and global collaboration.
Director General Africa Desk at MOFA Pakistan, Mr. Hamid Asghar Khan welcomed the ambassadors at the ministry. Dean of African Ambassadors, Mohammad Karmoun, Ambassador of Morocco, Managing Director Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) Aftab ur Rehman Rana, CEO PTM Ali Hamdani were also present. The meeting was attended by travel and tour operators as well.
Ambassadors of Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda, Acting Ambassadors of Tunisia and Somalia, DHMs of Azerbaijan,Algeria, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, honorary consuls of Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Ghana and few other diplomats attended the meeting. They shared their views and suggestions for the upcoming event.
PTM Karachi will focus on four areas that are Leisure Tourism, Adventure Toursim, Religious Tourism and ECO Tourism.
Pakistan in the World – November 2024
Special importance has been attached to Africa and there are seven incentives for African countries to attract them to participate in the event ;
1- Dedicated Conference on Pakistan Africa Tourism
2-Exhibition and Showcasing Tourism Offerings
3-Business to Business meetings and networking
4-Destination Marketing and Promotion
5-Investment and Trade Opportunities
6-Cultural Showcases and Live demonstrations
7-Sustainable Tourism Initiatives
Most of these incentives are not actually the incentives but an event on tourism already consists of the same. The managers should work more on the incentives to make them real attraction. Tourists are basically tourists and they do not do business during tourism.
CEO PTM Ali Hamdani has shared on his social media page, “PTM is more than just an exhibition; it is a platform for fostering collaboration and bringing stakeholders together under one roof to enhance global connectivity.”
Pakistan in the World – October 2024
He has expressed his gratitude to Aftab ur Rehman Rana for his invaluable support and to Hamid Asghar Khan for making this event possible. He said, ” Achieving our objectives is only possible through a collaborative approach, and we look forward to continuing this shared journey towards success.”
Here it is worth noting that travel and tourism needs direct transport connectivity, safety of the tourists, infrastructure and expert hospitality as well. Unfortunately, Pakistan is operating no direct flight to any African country. International travelers, if they arrive Pakistan somehow , can not travel in two provinces of Balochistan and KPK.
The only direct connection between Pakistan and Africa has been made by Ethiopian Airlines with direct flights in Addis Ababa and Karachi. Ambassador of Ethiopia was not present in the preparatory meeting for the International Tourism Fair.
Pakistan that is, no doubt , have all attractions for international tourists but the country lacks other ingredients badly. Pakistan does not operate any direct flight to Central Asia, South Caucasus, ASEAN as well. It means Pakistan has no direct connectivity with all countries whose ambassadors and diplomats were present in the meeting at MOFA.
If there is some direct connection, it is thanks to the airlines of other countries, like Thai Air, Malaysian Air, Uzbekistan Air, AZAL Air, SCAT Air of Thailand, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan respectively. The policy makers, the managers, the facilitators of International Tourist Fairs are supposed to consider and solve this issue as well.
Pakistan in the World – December 2024
