World Travel Mart (WTM) London is one of the largest international tourism exhibitions which provides a unique platform to the professionals of tourism industry to interact with global tourism organizations, top tourism experts and professionals, exhibitors and visitors from a variety of sectors including tourism, hospitality, aviation, transport, travel technology, resort management companies and various other sub-sectors of tourism industry. It is an event of global significance where more than 180 countries come together and showcase their tourism potential under one roof.
This year an incredible number of travel professionals walked through the doors at World Travel Market 2022, with over 35,800 people participating – exceeding expected attendance, and presenting over double the attendance than that of 2021. WTM London also saw ministerial representation from 55 nations across the world.
Pakistan also participated in World Travel Mart (WTM) from 7th – 9th November 2022 at Excel London to showcase its rich tourism potential. Managing Director PTDC, Aftab ur Rehman Rana informed that PTDC after the interval of almost 14 years was able to setup an impressive Pakistan Pavilion at WTM London in collaboration with provincial tourism departments and private sector companies. He said, Promotion of Pakistan as a top tourist destination is the prime focus of present government of Pakistan. Pakistan is blessed with breath-taking natural beauty, rich culture and heritage and great diversity of landscape offering an un-matched tourism potential. Government of Pakistan aims to enhance the influx of foreign tourists to explore the rich touristic potential of this country and contribute in in the socio-economic development of its people through tourism.
Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) has put together a high level delegation of 40 members led by Awn Chaudhry, Advisor to Prime Minister on Tourism & Sports and Chairman PTDC. Delegation also includes Abdul Khaliq, Tourism Minister – Balochistan, Raja Nasir Ali, Tourism Minister – Gilgit Baltistan, Faheem Akhtar, Minister for Tourism, Law & Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK), Ahmed Shafiq, CEO College of Tourism and Hotel Management (COTHM), heads of provincial tourism organizations, CEOs and MDs of eight private tour operation and hotel management companies, and senior officials from PTDC, AJK, GB, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab tourism departments.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Sports and Tourism, Awn Chaudhry inaugurated ‘Pakistan Pavilion at WTM London on 7th of November. Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK, Moazzam Ahmad Khan and other members of Pakistan delegations were also present on the occasion.
Awn Chaudhry, in his comments appreciated the efforts of PTDC and said showcasing Pakistan’s tourism opportunities at the international travel shows like WTM would help attract more tourists to Pakistan. He said Pakistan is blessed with beautiful landscapes and cultural diversity, and that’s why the country has been witnessing exponential rise in tourism lately. He said the Government is committed to promoting tourism abroad and is doing its best to improve tourism related infrastructure to facilitate tourists.
The adviser to Prime Minister on Tourism & Sports also visited the pavilions of different countries i:e Dubia, Abu Dubia, India, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Egypt, Italy, & Germany and discussed opportunities to promote bilateral tourism between the countries. He also met with Secretary General of UNWTO, Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili and Minister for Tourism Saudi Arabia during the ministerial conference “UNWTO THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL STARTS NOW”.
On this occasion, Pakistan’s High Commission in London also hosted a dinner on 8th November in the honour of visiting delegation which was attended by Advisor to Prime Minister on Tourism & Sports, Tourism Minister – Gilgit Baltistan, Minister for Tourism, Law & Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) and all the members of Pakistani delegation.
Sharing his views with Hospitality Plus, Aftab Rana, MD PTDC informed that this highly impactful participation of Pakistan in World Travel Mark London has provided our industry professionals a great opportunity to develop G2G, B2B and G2B linkages with the leading players of tourism industry at global level and in the near future it will greatly help in attracting more foreign tourists to Pakistan. He also congratulated all the members of the Pakistani delegation and support team for making a highly engaging and impactful participation during the three days’ event of WTM 2022. He hoped that this great teamwork will certainly contribute a lot to building the image of Pakistan as a tourist-friendly destination and help in attracting more foreign tourists to Pakistan in near future.
