Rickshaw Diaries:Rickshaw Ride Tourism Awareness Campaign
Launched by PTDC and EyeBex Films on May 21, 2019
Managing Director PTDC, Syed Intikhab Alam Inaugurated the Launching Ceremony
Managing Director PTDC Syed Intikhab Alam said that there is lot more to do to promote tourism and infrastructure development in our country. The tourism industry has been given the status of an important sector of the national economy by the present government, which is essential for our society, our culture and our ecosystem. These goals can only be achieved by the public and private sector's sharing and effective approach and our country can be seen as a perfect tourist center. He added that the initiative of Wajahat Malik will deliver a message to our youth about fascinating tourist places of Pakistan.
CEO of Eyebex Films Wajahat Malik is a renowned travel filmmaker. He has named his Rickshaw as F-Sola and he has travelled all over Pakistan on it. Speaking on the occasion, Wajahat Malik said that the first leg of my journey from Islamabad to Khunjerab pass will be started on 21st May. It will be the first ever rickshaw ride on Karakoram Highway and the first ever rickshaw that will be driven and will reach at an altitude of 4700 meters at Khunjerab pass. The purpose of this ride is to create awareness on responsible tourism and showcase the beauty of Pakistan to the world with this unique ride. We are filming this rickshaw ride to produce a travel documentary series that will be aired on Television and various social media platforms. The inaugural ceremony was attended by large number of professionals from tourism industry.
Welcome to Pakistan
From the mighty stretches of the Karakorams in the North to the vast alluvial delta of the Indus River in the South, Pakistan remains a land of high adventure and nature. Trekking, mountaineering, white water rafting, wild boar hunting, mountain and desert jeep safaris, camel and yak safaris, trout fishing and bird watching, are a few activities, which entice the adventure and nature lovers to Pakistan.
Pakistan is endowed with a rich and varied flora and fauna. High Himalayas, Karakoram and the Hindukush ranges with their alpine meadows and permanent snow line, coniferous forests down the sub-mountain scrub, the vast Indus plain merging into the great desert, the coast line and wetlands, all offer a remarkably rich variety of vegetation and associated wildlife including avifauna, both endemic and migratory. Ten of 18 mammalian orders are represented in Pakistan with species ranging from the world's smallest surviving mammals, the Mediterranean Pigmy Shrew, to the largest mammal ever known; the blue whale.
NTCB
Tourism is a focused area of the present government. Several initiatives are being undertaken to garner the potential offered by the tourism industry. To develop and enhance coordination with provinces, federal ministries, and private actors, facilitate in the development of policies, strategies, framework, etc, to market and promote tourism potentials nationally and internationally; and capacity building for the provision of quality human resource, the Government has constituted the National Tourism Coordination Board (NTCB). NTCB is mandated to:
- Coordinate with provincial, national and international organizations dealing with the tourism sector.
- Market and Promote tourism potential of Pakistan.
- Facilitate the provinces in developing a regulatory framework for quality standards in the Hospitality sector.
- Coordinate national participation in tourism related international expos and events.
- Develop synergies amongst provinces and regions.
- Provide Technical assistance to provinces to develop institutions in tourism sectors.
As a part of the strategy, the NTCB formulated following thematic working groups to develop strategies and action plans in their assigned specific areas:
- Cultural, Heritage & Archaeology Tourism Working Group
- ECO Tourism Working Group
- Tourism Branding & Marketing Working Group
- Regulatory & Policy Reforms Working Group
- Religious Tourism Working Group
- Investment Promotion Working Group
- Infrastructure & Facilitation Working Group
- Adventure Tourism Working Group
- Trans Himalayan Jeep Rally Working Group