Potential of Buddhist tourism explored

Islamabad : Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) and Pakistan Embassy at Myanmar here Tuesday organised a webinar with participation of tour operator companies from both sides to explore the potential to promote Buddhist Heritage and religious tourism in Pakistan and develop B2B linkages among the tour operators of both countries.

Representatives of as many as 20 tour operator companies from Myanmar and 10 companies from Pakistan attended the webinar that discussed the resumption of International flights in Myanmar after 2 years that has been very well received by local and foreign tour operators and consider it an ideal time to promote Pakistani tourism with a focus on Buddhist heritage and religious tourism.

The participants from Myanmar were of the view that Gandhara civilization of Pakistan (Buddhist Archaeological heritage sites) will be of great interest to Burmese tourists besides other tourist attractions.

PTDC Managing Director Aftab ur Rehman Rana on the occasion said the webinar was organized to promote tourism potential of Pakistan in Myanmar as Pakistan’s Buddhist heritage has lot to offer to the millions of tourists from Myanmar, Japan, China, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong and many other Far Eastern countries.

Dr. Nadeem Omar Tarrar, Director of Gandhar Resource Centre Taxila gave a detailed presentation on the Buddhist heritage in Pakistan and highlighted the potential of Buddhist tourism in the areas of KP and Punjab Province.

Colonel Imran, Defence Attache of Pakistan at Yongon talked about the facilitation of Pakistan Embassy in Myanmar for the promotion of Buddhist Heritage Tourism in Pakistan.

Later discussion was held among the tour operators of both side and they discussed possibilities of different tour packages to facilitates the tourist flow to Pakistan from Myanmar.