Pakistan to host World Tourism Forum in 2020

Pakistan, World Tourism Forum discuss next year’s forum

By Nasir Aijaz
Correspondent to AsiaN

Islamabad: Pakistan will host the World Tourism Forum in 2020, a recent meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and a delegation of the World Tourism Forum has decided.

The World Tourism Forum delegation was led by the president of its executive board – Bulut Bagci. World Tourism Forum is an Istanbul-based organization dedicated to developing tourism around the world with its annual meetings.

Over 1,000 foreigners will attend the five-day proceedings of the forum in Islamabad next year.

In 2015, Pakistan welcomed 563,000 overseas arrivals. That figure rose to 965,000 in 2016, 1.6 million in 2017 and 1.9 million last year. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced a new visa policy for 175 countries to promote tourism and investments in the country.

Visitors from these countries will be able to apply for an online visa. As per the new policy, e-visa facility will initially be provided to five countries namely Turkey, China, Malaysia, United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.