




DRAFT PROVINCIAL TOURISM POLICY

Government of Punjab

14.12.2017





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 Punjab Tourism Policy

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION 6
1.1 HERITAGE TOURISM IN PUNJAB 6
1.2 TOURISM IN THE CONTEXT OF CPEC 8

2 PUNJAB’S TOURISM POTENTIAL 9

2.1 CHALLENGES FACED BY TOURISM SECTOR 11
2.1.1 CONSTRAINTS TO HERITAGE TOURISM 13

3 APPROACH TOWARDS TOURISM DEVELOPMENT 15

3.1 THREE REFORM LEVERS 16
3.2 FIVE STRATEGIC THRUST AREAS 17

4 INSTITUTIONAL REFORM PACKAGE FOR TOURISM SECTOR 19

4.1 PROMOTING PRIVATE SECTOR-LED GROWTH 20

5 TOURISM INVESTMENT PACKAGE 22

5.1 PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS FOR TOURISM SECTOR 22
5.2 INCENTIVES FOR PRIVATE INVESTORS FOR TOURISM SECTOR 23

6 STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE MARKETING, OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS 24

CONCLUSION & WAY FORWARD 26

3
 Table of Figures

Figure 1: Tourism and Travel Contribution to GDP and Employment in

Pakistan…………………………………………………………………………………………………... 9

Figure 2: Travel and Tourism Competitiveness…………………………………………. 1

Figure 3: Punjab’s Tourism Policy Framework…………………………………………… 15

Figure 4: New Institutional Structure for Tourism Sector……………………………. 20

Figure 5: Communications framework to support Punjab Tourism and Economic

Growth Project………………….………………………………………………………………………25

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 Punjab Tourism Policy

CCI Council for Common Interests

COTHM College of Tourism and Hotel Management
DTS Directorate for Tourism Services
EPA Environment Protection Agency
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
ETPB Evacuee Trust Property Board
GDP Gross Domestic Product
ICT Information & Communications Technology
IPC Interprovincial Coordination
IT Information Technology
ITDC Indian Tourism Development Corporation
ITHM Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management
LDA Lahore Development Authority
MOTC Ministry of Tourism & Culture
MoTS Ministry of Tourism & Sports
MOU Memorandum of Understanding
P&D Planning & Development
PATO Pakistan Association of Tour Operators
PGS Punjab Strategy Growth
PHA Pakistan Hotels Association
PITHM Pakistan Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management
PPP Public Private Partnership
PSGPC Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parabandhak Committee
PTDC Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation
SGPC Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
TDCP Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
WCLA Walled City Lahore Authority
WTO World Tourism Organization
WTTC World Travel and Tourism Council
YASA&T Youth Affairs, Sports, Archaeology & Tourism

5
1. INTRODUCTION
Government of Punjab recognizes the immense untapped economic potential of the
tourism sector. The government is also fully cognizant of the unique geographical
advantage of Punjab and believes that heritage tourism in particular should play a
pivotal role in this sector’s growth. However, in order to realize this potential it is
critical to develop the sector to provide state-of-the-art tourist services across
Punjab, focus on heritage tourism and other high-opportunity segments and mobilize
private investment within the tourism sector to contribute to Punjab’s economic
growth.

The tourism policy of Punjab therefore aims at articulating Government of Punjab’s

commitment in this regard and setting the future direction of tourism sector in the
province. The government believes that with this policy in place, complemented by
an investor-friendly business environment and sufficient institutional capacity, the
unexploited potential of the tourism sector can be unlocked and immensely
contribute to economic growth.

The Government of Punjab is deeply aware that any policy that seeks to promote this
cultural heritage and increase the access of people, both nationally and
internationally, to this heritage, will, in addition to the economic gains it harvests, pay
huge social dividends as well. It will help in making Punjab a truly pluralistic, tolerant,
culturally confident and vibrant society.

1.1 Heritage Tourism in Punjab

Punjab is an ancient land. Five thousand years ago, one of the earliest civilizations
known to humankind flourished on the banks of its rivers. Its soil gave birth to Indo-
Aryan legends and epics. Alexander marched through it, the weight of his army
leaving marks on the culture of the land. Great Buddhist kingdoms rose and fell,
visible now in the remains of the high seats of learning they created. A young
conqueror brought the early light of Islam to be followed by Muslim Turkic rulers
from the north. The greatest of Mughals ruled India from the ramparts of Lahore,
while the most just of them lies buried here. It has seen the creation and
disintegration of a Sikh kingdom and it has seen modernity come in the guise of
colonialism, opening up its hinterlands through a network of canals and rail-tracks. It
has been in the forefront of the struggle to overthrow this yoke and it has eventually
tasted the fruits of freedom and democracy.

This relentless ebb and flow of history has woven an immensely rich cultural tapestry,
which defines the people of Punjab. It is best reflected in its legends and songs. It
colours the message of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, as it shapes the words of
great Muslim Sufis such as Ali Hajveri, Baba Farid Gunjshakar, Mian Mir and many
others whose shrines dot the land. These saints, through their message of peace,

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 Punjab Tourism Policy

tolerance and love of humanity, did more for the spread of the eternal message of
Islam in the Indian Sub-continent than any army possibly could. A religion that a
majority of Punjabis now carry proudly in their hearts, knowing that theirs is a rich
legacy and knowing also that Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians all over the
world share parts of it.

Pakistan’s landscape is dotted with numerous heritage and religious sites spread
across the entire country with six recognized UNESCO World Heritage sites. Three
sites in Punjab are categorized as World Heritage sites. These are Rohtas Fort in
Jhelum, Lahore Fort and Shalimar Gardens in Lahore and Taxila, near Rawalpindi.

Punjab is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the immense heritage potential

and encourage heritage tourism. The province lies at the heart of the Indus Valley
civilization and has various historical sites and monuments, which are of great
religious and cultural significance to millions of Sikhs, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims
across the world. Numerous religious and heritage sites in Punjab reflect the diverse
and pluralistic tradition of the Indus Valley. The four main religions of the East have
co-existed for centuries in the land of the five rivers. From Muslim shrines to Hindu
temples and from Sikh Gurdwaras to Buddhist monasteries all share the same
geography and are an integral part of Punjab’s rich and diverse cultural and religious
history.

Mughal Heritage - Punjab has rich potential to promote tourism products based on
Mughal heritage sites, recreational tourism in its hilly areas, adventure and cultural
tourism in Cholistan Desert, ecotourism in the area of Salt Range and along the river
Indus and rural tourism based on the rich living culture of rural Punjab.

Events and Festivals - Additionally, Punjab has been known for a number of cultural
and religious events such as Basant, melas, urs and other events specific to various
heritage sites. There is a need to revive such event, integrate them within the overall
tourism development strategy and enhance their linkage with local art and crafts.

Sufi Heritage - Sufism presents another important thread for heritage and religious
tourism in Pakistan. There are hundreds of Sufi saints buried at several places in
Pakistan, drawing pilgrims from across the country. Every shrine has its major
festival, popularly called the ‘Urs’. At every Urs, the devotees gather in large numbers
where the shrines then become lively with musicians playing traditional instruments
and singers performing mystical folk songs, while dervishes dance themselves with
devotion. These festivals highlight the cultural richness of Pakistan and can be events
attracting tourists from around the world. Punjab, in particular, is populated with
such Sufi shrines that can play a vital role in drawing local as well as international
tourists. Some marked festivals that take place in Punjab throughout the year are
highlighted below:

7
Punjab is also home to various Muslim shrines including those of Hazrat Shah Rukn-
e-Alam, Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya and Shamas Tabrez in Multan, Data Ganj Bakhsh
in Lahore, Bibi Jawindi in Uch Sharif and Khawaja Ghulam Farid in Rajanpur besides
many others, attracting hundreds of thousands of devoted Muslim visitors every year.

Sikh Heritage - More specifically, Punjab holds the greatest religious and historical
significance for the Sikhs. Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Baba Guru Nanak, is
arguably the holiest site for Sikhs and can potentially attract as many pilgrims as the
Golden Temple in Amritsar (10 million per year).

Hindu Heritage - On the other hand, Ketas Raj temple complex and sacred pool
associated with Hindu god Shiva in the area of Salt Range is also a very important
Hindu pilgrim center. Before partition a large number of Hindu devotees used to visit
this site. If properly developed, this place can attract a large number of Hinde pilgrims
and tourists interested in visiting heritage sites from within the country and from
abroad.

Buddhist Heritage - Similarly, Punjab also holds a special significance for Buddhists.
The Gandhara-Buddhist civilization flourished in what is now Punjab and Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in Pakistan. In Punjab, Taxila and Mankiala, both in the
Rawalpindi district, are two major historical and religious sites for Buddhists.
Pakistani Buddhists sites are also of particular importance to Korean Buddhists that
trace their religious origin to the area, which now constitutes Pakistan. Punjab can,
therefore, gain immensely from promoting Buddhist cultural and religious tourism,
with an estimated market of 500 million Buddhists around the world.

1.2 Tourism in the Context of CPEC

Tourism is one of the key areas of cooperation under China Pakistan Economic
Corridor. Not only is there enormous potential of Chinese tourists visiting Pakistan,
but the overall improved infrastructure is also likely to entice more international
visitors. Therefore, the government realizes that it should explore development of
tourism assets in Punjab, especially along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Furthermore, with the right policy measures in place, Punjab’s tourism sector can also
benefit from future CPEC foreign direct investments.

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 Punjab Tourism Policy

2 PUNJAB’S TOURISM POTENTIAL

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC)’s Economic Impact 2016
report for Pakistan,1in 2015 the travel and tourism sector made a direct contribution
of PKR 780+ billion (2.8% of total GDP) to the national economy2 and with indirect
and induced effects, it exceeded 7% of GDP with a contribution of almost PKR 2
trillion. The sector not only directly created nearly 1.5 million jobs, claiming 2.4% of
total employment, but also generated an investment of PKR 340+ billion (9.3% of
total investment) in 2015. Punjab, being the largest province, claims significant share
in these contributions3. Figure 1 shows that economic contribution by the sector has
almost doubled between 2006-2015. Moreover, the sector is likely to contribute PKR
3,500bn to the national economy by 20264.

WTTC statistics show that domestic travel spending in Pakistan generated 90.8% of
direct Travel & Tourism GDP in 2015 compared with 9.2% for visitor exports (i.e.
foreign visitor spending or international tourism receipts). Domestic travel spending
is expected to grow by 3.0% in 2016 to PKR 1,162.8bn, and rise by 5.3% pa to PKR
1,945.2bn in 2026.

Figure 1: Tourism and Travel Contribution to GDP and Employment in Pakistan

Source: WTTC 2016

1Available at http://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic-impact-research/countries-
2016/pakistan2016.pdf

2All values are in constant 2015 prices & exchange rates

3All values are in constant 2015 prices & exchange rates

4WTTC’s methodology covers government spending as well as all expenditure on hotels, airlines,
airports, travel agents and leisure & recreation services utilized by individuals for business and
holiday. This may slightly overstate the contribution by the sector as a large portion of expenditure in
Pakistan on hotels and travel is for personal/family visits and for private and public sector business
purposes. The total number of domestic tourists in Pakistan during the year 2009 equaled 46.07
million. About half of these tourists travelled to meet their social obligations (friends, relatives, etc.)
and around 14% travelled for recreation purpose. Other important categories were of the people
who travelled for business, health or religious reasons (PILDAT, 2015).

9
According to World Tourism Organization's Report, in 2014 on a global level, there
were 1,081 million foreign tourists. Total number of foreign tourists coming to
Pakistan in 2014 were 0.965 million; compared to a figure of 0.557 million in the year
2000. Pakistan's share of the global tourism market in 2014 was only 0.09%; which
is much below its potential. In South Asia, Pakistan's share out of a total of 17.5 million
foreign tourists was a paltry 5.5%; compared to India's share of 44%, Iran’s share of
28.4% and Maldives at 7% share.5

In terms of geographical distribution, 44% of the total foreign tourist arrivals into
Pakistan were from Europe; a major share of which was of overseas Pakistanis
coming from United Kingdom. South Asia was the second largest origin for
international tourists coming to Pakistan, accounting for 21% of the total. Of these
tourists, a major share constitutes of Sikhs coming from India for religious festivals
and for visitation of holy sites. Moreover, almost 50% of the foreign tourists come to
Pakistan to visit their friends and relatives (VFR). These travellers usually do not
engage in the typical tourism activities. In fact only 14.7% of the total visitors to
Pakistan come for recreational purposes. This low share of tourists in the total
arrivals is a clear indicator of the untapped potential of the tourism sector6.

In terms of receipts in 2015 from foreign tourists, Pakistan only scraped a share of
merely 1% out of the total spend of US$ 31.4bn in South Asia. India was the biggest
beneficiary with foreign tourist spending of US$ 21bn during 2015.7

Typically, the average visitor to the numerous Sufi festivals, tombs and shrines across
the province belongs to the lower income strata thus limiting the overall economic
benefit of domestic tourism. Provision of better tourist infrastructure and extensive
marketing and projection of the many heritage sites and festivals could potentially
attract higher income groups thus increasing the economic benefits of domestic
tourism manifold. Middle and upper income domestic tourism is crucial for
generating the volumes required for the private sector to invest in the sector and
recuperate the fixed costs associated with developing quality facilities.

In the next few years, international tourism’s contribution to Pakistan’s tourism

sector, in particular, can increase five-fold from its current level as these generate a
greater amount of revenue per visitor. In addition, improvements in infrastructure
and visitor facilities can boost domestic tourism, enabling Pakistanis across the
country to connect with their culture and heritage.

The Punjab Growth Strategy specifically aims at enhancing both income and
employment in the province through increased private sector investment across
different segments of the economy. In this regard, the tourism sector can become one

5 UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2016

6 PILDAT 2015
7 Ibid.

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 Punjab Tourism Policy

of the main contributing sectors to the provincial economy. As per government

estimates 8 , Sikh and Buddhist tourism from international tourists alone has the
potential to generate almost PKR 20 billion and an estimated 40,000 jobs every year9.

These estimates do not however fully capture the various spin offs development of
the tourism sector can have on the overall economy. Growth in the tourism sector can
contribute towards skills development especially in the services and hospitality
sector. Increased number of tourists would create incentives for entrepreneurship
and private sector growth in tourism. One of the major factors behind the lack of
private sector investment in tourism is precisely the current abysmally low number
of tourists. By attracting high-income Sikh and Buddhist tourists to Punjab,
investments in hotels and restaurants in the main tourist sites, along with overall
hospitality sector, across the province becomes profitable for the private sector.
Availability of good quality tourist facilities and services would in turn attract more
visitors hence starting a virtuous cycle of growth and income generation. Finally, a
large and buoyant tourism industry would also help enhance the tax base and
revenue generation for both the provincial and federal governments.

Given this diversity and richness of religious heritage, the economic potential, which
could be generated from religious and heritage tourism, is immense. Preservation of
these sites and development of necessary tourism and related infrastructure in these
areas would attract not only higher income domestic tourists but also millions of
international tourists including Sikh, Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims. This could lead to
a substantial economic uplift of different regions of the province including the
economically backward but historically and religiously rich southern districts of
Punjab.

2.1 CHALLENGES FACED BY TOURISM SECTOR

However, despite the presence of a sizeable travel and tourism sector, international
tourism in Pakistan remains abysmally weak. Presently, international tourism’s
contribution to national GDP stands at a mere 0.4%, far less than the average of 1.1%
for South Asia, 1.6% for lower middle-income countries and 1.84% for the world at
large, pointing towards a significant gap and a tremendous opportunity to grow.

Pakistan is currently ranked 125 out 141 benchmarked countries on the Travel &
Tourism Competitiveness Index developed by the World Economic Forum. Figure 1
shows that Pakistan lags in all key sub-indicators with the exception of Price
Competitiveness, which is there because of depreciation in the rupee.

8Initial estimates – economic impact of religious tourism in Punjab; IGC

9These are very preliminary estimates that indicate the potential of this sector to contribute to the
economy.

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Figure 2: Travel and Tourism Competitiveness

Source: WTTC 2016

Over the last two decades, Pakistan has suffered immensely as a consequence of a
deteriorating security environment brought about due to insurgencies and terrorism.
This has created a negative perception, fear and distrust in the security and safety
situation of the country across the world. The federation and the provinces have
failed to counter this negative perception. As a consequence Pakistan has had adverse
travel advisories and foreign visitors have been avoiding traveling to the country.

Moreover, due to uncertain security and a volatile geopolitical situation, tourists do

not easily get Pakistani visas. The issue gets even more severe when entry into
Pakistan is from India, which restricts thousands of tourists from coming to Pakistan.

The existing institutional arrangements for tourism sector are also quite weak and
are in need of serious reform. Multiple agencies and departments are involved in the
sector, without any specialized experience for managing heritage sites. Existing
arrangements are also not in accordance with international practice. The federal-
provincial coordination also poses some challenges, as federal jurisdiction over some
heritage sites is still maintained through ETPB although after the 18th amendment it
has no legal authority. Furthermore, over the years, TDCP has been involved in
running commercial operations, creating competition for the private sector. There is
little or no coordination between various departments and agencies working for

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 Punjab Tourism Policy

tourism sector; severely weak capacity to impart private sector skills;; no

professional interface or institution to work with private sector; no institutional
channel to seek private sector’s feedback and no institutional arrangement for
standard setting or quality assurance

There are also present a number of existing constraints to private sector investment
in tourism and other sectors. Some of them include exorbitant real estate costs
discouraging investors from initiating new ventures; unpredictability of tax policy
and ad hoc changes in applicable taxes, discouraging investors from investing in
projects with longer gestation periods; high cost of doing business with excessive
regulations; limited financing avenues in the wake of commercial financing for such
projects, weak capital markets and absence of private equity; and poor contract
enforcement, leading to expensive and prolonged litigation.

2.1.1 Constraints to Heritage Tourism

Heritage tourism in particular faces a number of additional constraints and

challenges, especially in Sikh and Buddhist tourism segments.

For instance, despite the fact that Pakistan houses a number of holy sites for Sikhs,
visits to these sites are severely limited. Barely 6,000 Indian Sikhs visit every year.10
A survey 11 undertaken for the World Bank in India and in Canada, USA and UK
revealed that approximately 80% of both Diaspora and India Sikhs have an interest
in visiting Pakistan, but majority of them do not follow up with an actual visit, due to
multiple reasons, explained below:

 The most severe reported impediment was the perception of safety and
security. Almost all the pilgrims had come in the face of pressure from friends
and family who were worried about their safety. This is reportedly
exacerbated in times of political lows between Pakistan and India.

 The other serious limitations have to do with the various restrictions on the
pilgrim visa given to the Sikhs. Pilgrims can only visit at four predetermined
times during the year, with limitations on sites they can visit, and are they not
allowed to visit at any other time. The visa duration is limited to 10 days.
Moreover, there is a quota of 7,500 visas a year for Indian Sikhs, which can
constrain the demand.

10In contrast, the Golden Temple at Amritsar – just 120 kilometers away from Nankana Sahab - attracts
over 50 million visits a year. This includes multiple visits from the same visitors
11 Gallup Pakistan (2015) “Survey Report: Initial Assessment of potential of Sikh Diaspora in Canada,
USA and UK for cultural tourism in Pakistan” and Center for Research in Rural and Industrial
Development, India (2014) “Cultural-Religious-Ancestral Home Tourism to Pakistani Punjab: A
Perception Survey in Indian Punjab”

13
  Indian Sikhs are also not allowed to stay at private accommodation, and the
facilities they are accommodated in are very basic. Diaspora Sikhs do arrange
private accommodation, but their priority is to stay close to the Gurdwara
where there are limited options, dominated by budget hotels. Since demand is
low and seasonal, the private sector has not developed higher end facilities to
cater to it.

Similarly, survey work undertaken for the World Bank by Gallup Pakistan in South
Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Bhutan 12 reveals that 59% of all
Buddhist respondents reported that they were not interested in visiting Pakistan. The
predominant reason is clearly the perception of security problems in Pakistan, a
finding that is shared by Sikh tourists as the most important deterrent. The other
important Pakistan-specific issues appear to be lack of facilities and visa related
problems.

Given the immense international tourism potential, Government of Punjab realizes

that it must address these constraints to unlock this potential.

12 Gallup Pakistan (2016) “Survey report: Survey for Estimation of Buddhist tourist potential”

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 Punjab Tourism Policy

3 APPROACH TOWARDS TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Government of Punjab believes that tourism development can happen through
appropriate use of three key reform levers – fixing the institutions, calibrating the
regulations and providing requisite financing. Therefore, this tourism policy presents
an institutional reform package, a regulatory reform package and a tourism
investment package to activate these three levers.

Government believes that these three levers should then drive a five-pronged tourism
development agenda focusing on building state-of-the-art tourism infrastructure;
ensuring safety and security of tourists; building a strong tourism brand; developing
talent for tourism services; and ensuring that growth in tourism sector is sustainable
and inclusive. The ultimate vision of this tourism policy is to transform Punjab into a
preferred tourism destination for national and international tourists, developing and
fully capitalizing on Punjab’s tourism potential. Government of Punjab also aims at
promoting pluralism and religious tolerance through its focus on heritage tourism and
thereby increasing exposure to cultural aspects of various religious communities.

Figure 3: Punjab’s Tourism Policy Framework

TOURISM POLICY OF PUNJAB

REFORM LEVERS
Fixing ins tu ons Calibra ng regula ons Providing capital

STRATEGIC THRUST AREAS

Tourism Safety and Strong Tourism Talent for Sustainability

Infrastructure Security Brand Tourism and Inclusion

Ins tu onal Regulatory Tourism

Reform Reform Investment
Package Package Package

15
3.1 THREE REFORM LEVERS

A) Fixing the institutions – Institutional Reform Package

Any vision for tourism development, no matter how ambitious it may be, will only be
as good as the government’s capacity to realize it. Therefore developing the capacity
to deliver forms the first and foremost reform lever of Government of Punjab.
Government recognizes that the tourism institutions in the province, in their present
form, cannot deliver the requisite change and there is an immediate need to fix this.
Therefore, the tourism policy includes a comprehensive tourism institutional reform
package, which will be implemented right away. The underlying theme for this
package is to bring institutional structure in line with what’s needed for private
sector-driven growth in the tourism sector. Moreover, government will now adopt a
sector-approach with a cross-departmental oversight mechanism to ensure that
there are synergies across various agencies and will create a stakeholder-led
management structure to ensure that any public sector-led initiative is aligned with
market needs. The details of the institutional reform package are provided in this
policy in the subsequent section.

B) Calibrating the regulations – Regulatory Reform Package

Government of Punjab recognizes that the tourism regulatory regime in its present
form is not appropriate for private sector-led growth. Even the proposed institutional
reform package will need supporting laws and regulations to enable it. Consultations
with stakeholders also indicated market expectations from government to create an
enabling environment and facilitate the private investors. These expectations are also
in line with what’s happening in other countries. Therefore, this policy also includes
a detailed regulatory reform package for the tourism sector. Government believes
that targeted regulatory reforms will help a) increase confidence of tourists in the
ability of Punjab to better cater to their needs and b) enhance competitiveness in the
travel and tourism industry by addressing some of the factors identified in the
international Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index pertaining to business
environment, safety and security, health and hygiene, human resources and labour
market and ICT readiness that are hindering the sector’s growth. The details of the
regulatory reform package are provided in this policy in the subsequent section.

C) Providing requisite financing – Tourism Investment Package

Government of Punjab realizes that any future growth in tourism sector will
ultimately hinge on investment flows to the sector. The limited public spending will
only complement the private sector-led interventions through smart investments in
public infrastructure or to address any market failures. While the government will
increase public spending immediately to implement this tourism policy, the real
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 Punjab Tourism Policy

growth is expected to stem from private capital. Therefore this tourism policy also
includes a tourism investment package. The package not only includes policy levers
to attract private investors but also a focus on public private partnerships to create a
pipeline of potential investment opportunities. The details of the tourism investment
package are provided in this policy in the subsequent section.

3.2 FIVE STRATEGIC THRUST AREAS

I) Building state-of-the-art tourism infrastructure

Government will adopt with utmost transparency a coherent and well-conceived

approach towards the development of infrastructure related to the tourism sector.
The focus of the government will be on developing high quality tourism and support
infrastructure that will include local transportation as well as tourist service
infrastructure possibly through PPP models, enabling better management of facilities,
creating sustainable models and enhancing involvement of the private sector through
specialized contractors and improved supervision.

Government of Punjab recognizes the importance of meticulous planning and

involvement of local communities in infrastructure development and will duly
address any concerns regarding environmental degradation, heritage preservation,
land zoning, local government regulations, etc. Government will undertake strategic
planning of key tourism sites and will put in place necessary zoning arrangements.
Government will also undertake any special institutional or regulatory arrangements
that may be required to ensure preservation and management of heritage sites and
adjoining areas. Government realizes that presently the museums are antiquated and
in serious need of improvement and up-gradation and therefore will also be covered
under this policy.

II) Ensuring safety and security of tourists

Government of Punjab gives utmost importance to safety and security of tourists and
will accordingly ensure adequate arrangements all year round. Government will also
take any institutional or regulatory measures, necessary in this regard.

III) Building a strong tourism brand

Government of Punjab is fully committed to enforcing superior quality standards for

various tourism services, supplemented through private technology-driven
frameworks and crowd sourcing models to provide credible information to tourists.
Government of Punjab will also create a tourism brand identity for Punjab that will
depict the province as a reliable safe and quality tourism destination. Government
will ensure a wider a) availability of information about its tourism assets, tourist

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services and other relevant areas and b) dissemination of such information to the
targeted audience to create widespread awareness and facilitate potential tourists in
planning their visits. Government will strive to attract a wider and more diversified
visitor base to the heritage sites and other tourist destinations in order to provide
greater income prospects for such areas and creating a price competitive tourism
sector.

IV) Developing talent for tourism services

Skills development is critical for the envisaged transformation of the tourism sector.
The Provincial Government is committed to skills development in Punjab with an
adequate focus on the tourism sector to ensure availability of a well-trained skilled
workforce to cater to the projected growth of the sector. Government will endeavour
to make the workforce in the hospitality and tourism sector come at par with
international standards, not only to create a skilled resource pool for the tourism
industry but also to ensure inclusive growth with a special focus on unemployed
youth.

V) Sustainable and Inclusive Tourism

Government of Punjab is committed to inclusive and sustainable tourism

development and will ensure a widespread and fair distribution of economic and
social benefits accruing from developing the sector and specially enhancing the
positive impact of tourism development on lives of women and other marginalized
groups. Government will ensure that sustainable environmental management
remains central to all tourism development initiatives. Government will also ensure
integrating local communities, especially the poor and marginalized, in development
of various heritage and other tourism destinations to stimulate growth in adjoining
areas.

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 Punjab Tourism Policy

4 INSTITUTIONAL REFORM PACKAGE FOR TOURISM SECTOR

The institutional reform package for tourism sector is based on three key principles:
a) ensuring federal-provincial coordination and alignment; b) strengthening core
governance capacity within provincial government for managing tourism sector; and
c) embed private sector-led growth. There are multiple objectives behind each of
these principles:

a) Federal-provincial Coordination and Alignment

 Undertake active advocacy efforts with federal government on key institutional

issues in the wake of 18th Amendment
 Coordinate with other provinces for alignment on critical policy issues
 Create limited but sector-focused institutional capacity in federal government for
taking up relevant regulatory and policy issues

b) Strengthened Public Sector Capacity For Tourism Sector Management

 Adopt a sector-approach with a cross-departmental oversight mechanism to

ensure that there are synergies across various initiatives
 Create a stakeholder-led management structure to facilitate tourism in selected
strategic thrust areas rather than traditional public sector-led approach
 Strengthen the core institutional capacity of the provincial government for policy
making and implementation
 Create specialized capacity in the government to manage heritage sites

c) Supporting Private Sector-Led Growth

 Develop adequate capacity to promote private investment in the tourism sector

 Support investments in the sector through effective institutional means
 Support skills development through strengthening existing public sector
institutions for developing market-based skills
 Mobilize private sector to create a responsible and responsive tourism industry
 Develop regulatory structures to support sustainable tourism; and
 Remove any distortions in the market, which discourages or prevents private
investment in the tourism sector

Based on these principles and to address the above-mentioned objectives,

Government of Punjab will immediately put in place the following institutional
structure. The new institutional structure is carefully thought out to deliver the
tourism and is in line with stakeholder views and institutional regimes in other
countries.

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4.1 Promoting Private Sector-Led Growth

A) Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP)

There is a need to revamp the present structure of TDCP in order to convert it into a
commercially vibrant, financially and operationally viable and self-sustaining
company that is based on the principles of international best practices through active
engagement of private sector. TDCP should be transformed into an investment
mobilization and marketing & promotion arm that should develop new projects using
private financing through PPP mode and through promoting and encouraging purely
private projects. In order to do that TDCP will develop a pipeline of PPP projects and
take them to the market. Additionally, it will also work with the government to
develop an appropriate incentive package to promote domestic and international
private investment.

TDCP will become a PPP Node, as defined under the Punjab Public Private Partnership
Act 2014, and will be responsible for project identification, project preparation,
tendering, monitoring of project implementation, and contract enforcement during
operation, etc. Considering that PPP is a specialized field encompassing procurement
of transaction advisors, project preparation and structuring, legal documentation,
project procurement, etc., the government will deploy dedicated resources within
TDCP so that it becomes an effective PPP node.

After the overhaul, TDCP will also be responsible for marketing, branding and
communications. TDCP will take full responsibility for marketing and promoting of
Punjab as a preferred tourist and travel destination of quality, especially highlighting
various themes such as heritage tourism. However, TDCP will actively seek
collaboration with private sector to undertake targeted and effective communication
and marketing campaigns.

TDCP will also establish an Investor Facilitation Desk to assist potential investors
interested in investing in tourism sector of Punjab. The facility will provide a one-
window gateway and a single point of contact to get all requisite provincial regulatory
approvals and clearances and get support for getting any federal regulatory
approvals. Staff from various relevant departments will be housed at this desk to
manage the backend process.

B) Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (ITHM)

There is need to revive ITHM and transform it into a vibrant state-of-the-art

institution for skill development. Under this policy, ITHM will form international
partnerships and linkages; attract high quality faculty; improve its curriculum and
bring it in line with international standards; upgrade campus facilities; and will form
the key platform for developing and nurturing talent for tourism development in
Punjab.

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 Punjab Tourism Policy

C) Directorate of Tourist Services (DTS)

The responsibility of managing standards of hotels and regulating hotels, tourist

guides and travel agencies lies with Provincial Directorate of Tourist Services
(DTS).Under the Policy, the following shall be improved: Accreditation of hotels,
Certification of tourist guides, Better dissemination of information on tours and
tourists’ guides, Standardization of tourist transportation, Capacity of the staff,
bringing them at par with the international best practices relating to standardizations
and licensing.

D) Strengthening Private Sector Capacity

Under this policy, government will also strengthen private sector capacity so that
they can be better organized and act as counterparts to government in a much more
meaningful manner, driving the sector growth and identifying priorities for future.
The newly formed government owned company will work closely with Pakistan
Hotels Association (PHA) and Pakistan Association of Tour Operators (PATO) to
devise a detailed strategy for building private sector’s capacity.

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5 TOURISM INVESTMENT PACKAGE
The tourism investment package forms an important part of Punjab’s tourism policy.
Government is fully resolved to creating the necessary space to allow private sector
growth, while minimizing the role of government in service delivery that
inadvertently distorts competition. This package is aimed at catalysing this process
and attracting more investment flows from the private sector. The package includes
a focus on PPP projects for tourism sector and a set of policy incentives for private
investors.

5.1 Public Private Partnership Projects for Tourism Sector

In recent years PPPs have gained popularity in tourism sector in many countries,
where much of the investment takes place in typically private sector space, but still
driven by the public sector. However, given the nature of the sector such PPPs
generally differ from traditional PPP projects. Government of Punjab realizes that the
role of government is especially important in tourism PPPs because of government’s
control over protected areas or tourism sites, especially in case of heritage sites.

Through a focus on PPP projects, Government of Punjab will create a pipeline of

potential investment opportunities and provide all required support such as ancillary
infrastructure to make such investments successful. The government will undertake
all such transactions through a transparent tendering process. The government is
also committed to providing a one-stop solution for facilitating all relevant permits,
licensing and regulatory requirements of the provincial government for private
investors. The institutional reform package already covers establishment of a PPP
node for tourism sector to complement these efforts.

Government of Punjab will undertake these tourism PPPs in many areas such as:

 Private sector upgrading government assets and managing them to recover

investment (e.g. up-gradation and management of government guest houses)
 Participation of private sector in various services under a restricted quota/license
given by the government
 Private sector performing a government function (e.g. maintenance of
government-owned heritage sites and recover expenses through entry tickets)
 Private sector investing and constructing a property for commercial use on
government land (e.g. construction of hotel or theme park, on government land)
 Management of events and festivals by private enterprises
 Traditional infrastructure services to support tourism sector performed by
private sector (e.g. safari flights; private sector-run trains for tourists; paid public
toilets; toll roads to open up tourism destinations; etc.)

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 Punjab Tourism Policy

5.2 Incentives for Private Investors for Tourism Sector

Government of Punjab realizes that there is a need to provide an incentive package to

attract private investments in tourism sector, beyond the PPP projects. Under the
tourism policy, Government of Punjab will therefore announce targeted incentives in
following areas:

A) Use of Public Assets and Land

Public assets and publically owned land (or land acquired by government) will be
offered to private sector for development and management and will play a significant
role in development of tourism sector in Punjab. These will be especially important
in the wake of exorbitant real estate prices. For this purpose, Government will
develop an equitable and transparent process for asset/land leasing and establishing
special purpose vehicles owing lease to such assets, with equity stake of the
government, without transfer of title.

B) Approval for All Permits / Development Plans

The government will ensure prompt and seamless approvals of all permits and plans
for tourism projects, as long as they comply with basic criteria, which will be clearly
laid out. Government will also notify maximum time limit, within which these
approvals will have to be granted, to enhance investors’ confidence.

C) Financial arrangements

Government realizes that there is a need to focus on financial arrangements for

successful close of mega projects, supporting tourism sector. Commercial banks in
Pakistan traditionally shy away from project finance with the exception of a few
sectors such as energy. In order to encourage investment in the sector and to support
PPP and other smart investments in tourism sector, Government will create an
Infrastructure Fund, to support private financing. The fund will take partial stake in
commercially viable projects, to encourage other institutional investors. Government
will also create other special arrangements for providing partial risk guarantees to
investors for selected areas to stimulate investment.

D) Tax Policy Predictability

Government of Punjab realizes that investors some time shy away from investing,
apprehending untoward future changes in tax regimes. Unpredictability of tax policy
therefore, poses the most critical challenge and risk for the private sector.
Government of Punjab will therefore provide guarantee for tax policy predictability
for provincial taxes through announcement of a ten years provincial tax package
covering all provincial taxes and duties, with any future increase pre-announced in it.

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6 STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE MARKETING, OUTREACH AND
COMMUNICATIONS

Communications strategy encourages proactive participation of several stakeholders,

including government departments and ministries, private sector, professional
artists, experts and practitioners from creative and heritage industries, service
providers and suppliers from tourism and hospitality sector, civil society,
development organizations, financial institutions, communities, etc. To this end, a
communications Policy will be enacted as part of the Tourism Policy as a three-
pronged framework to design and deliver a coherent, comprehensive and
differentiated communications and marketing strategy, reaching out to multiple
levels of target audience.

Figure 5: Communications framework to support Punjab Tourism and Economic

Growth Project

The competition for travellers identified to travel Punjab is fierce and to effectively
compete amongst markets, this Policy will have to shift its current traditional
marketing approach to one that is more aggressive and competitive. In this context,
the Policy purposes an array of marketing tools and strategies to:

1. Encourage information sharing and coordination at all levels

2. Identify stakeholders’ engagement platforms

3. Sustained advocacy through media: The policy will adopt credible,

independent and balanced reporting on the governance reforms of tourism

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 Punjab Tourism Policy

sector is an integral part of strategic communications. The higher the

frequency of reaching out to people through both online and offline media, the
better the chances of clarifying the context of issues and solutions proposed
by the reform, which would inevitably contribute towards building an
informed and supportive constituencies for change.

4. Pro Poor Tourism Development: The Policy proposes inclusion of all strata’s
of society and reaching out to youth and women,

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CONCLUSION & WAY FORWARD
Government of Punjab fully understands that this tourism policy only marks the first
step towards tourism development in the province and putting Punjab as a prominent
destination on international tourist circuit. Therefore, Government of Punjab has
already initiated a massive project for heritage tourism in the province. The
provincial investments in infrastructure development are also expected to further
support these efforts. There is now a need to actively engage with international
development partners and private sector to pool in resources and expertise to drive
the future reform agenda. The provincial government will organize a coordination
conference with development partners and financers, which will be followed by
development of a comprehensive resourcing plan, taking into account future
government allocations, donor funding and private investment requirements.

Government of Punjab will also develop a detailed implementation plan to put this
policy in action and immediately rolling out reforms.

The Government is also aware that there is presently a considerable paucity of

information, data, research and literature on the cultural heritage of Punjab and its
touristic potential. There is also a general absence of reliable and ready information
for tourists to access for easy facilitation of travel, stay and leisure. Due to the absence
of data on the kind of tourists and purpose of their visit it is difficult to make
projections and hence design specific interventions. Government plans to address
this through the provision of adequate resources to be accessed by academia,
independent researchers and those involved in the tourist sector to produce quality
literature on the Punjab and its cultural resources.

The government will also develop a robust communication strategy not only in the
context of change management for implementation of this policy or merely for
promoting tourism but also in the larger context of creating an awareness of Punjab’s
heritage and fostering the spirit of tolerance and pluralism that underpin it.

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