31/12/2023
UNWTO Recognized Pakistan as one of the Best Performing Tourist Destinations in 2023
We are pleased to share the good news that our efforts for the promotion of tourism and recovery of foreign tourism in Pakistan have also been recognized by the UNWTO in its latest report of 2023.
Pakistan is leading the recovery graph by 92% of the pre-pandemic level in 2023. Pakistan welcomed 115% more foreign tourists during 2023 as compared to the last year reflecting a strong come back after the Covid-19 pandemic. We are hopeful that the international tourist receipts could reach to the level of USD 1.3 billion by the end of 2023.
As a whole, Asia and the Pacific Region reached 62% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023 due to slower reopening to international travel. However, Pakistan’s performance remained very well due to the efforts of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) to promote and project the image of Pakistan as a tourist friendly destination at different global forums and through social media.
Aftab Rana, MD PTDC informed that during the last year, PTDC along with the provincial tourist departments and private sector tour operators participated in six mega tourism events such as World Travel Mart London, ITB Berlin, New York Travel and Adventure Show, Arabian Travel Mart Dubai, Seoul Travel Mart Korea and Travel Mart in Vietnam. Participation in these mega global events provided Pakistani tour operators excellent opportunities to develop strong B2B linkages with the foreign tour operators from other counties. PTDC also organized various online B2B meetings of Pakistani tour operators with the tour operators of different counties with the support of Pakistani missions abroad. As a result, there was a sharp increase of 115% in the foreign tourists who traveled on tourist visa to Pakistan during 2023. Moreover, PTDC also launched a new tourism brand “Salam Pakistan” in August 2023 which has created a great positive impact to attract Pakistani diaspora, foreign travelers and domestic tourists to visit exotic tourist destinations of Pakistan.
Wasi Shah, Minister of State on Tourism congratulated the team of PTDC and all the industry partners to achieve this landmark achievement during 2023. He further said that despite various challenges that we are facing in Pakistan, we are putting all our efforts to gear up tourism sector to showcase a more stronger performance in 2024.
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Prime Minister's Office of Pakistan Office of the Spokesperson, Mofa Pakistan Radio Pakistan Wasi Shah Poet Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority Ajk Tourism Archaeology Dept Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab Sindh Tourism Development Corporation STDC Directorate of Tourism, Balochistan Pakistan Association Of Tour Operators Tourism & Culture Department Gilgit-Baltistan
