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Group tourists of 24 countries can enjoy visa-free travel to Pakistan
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In an attempt to highlight Pakistan’s natural beauty and attract more tourists, Pakistan has announced free-visa entry to the tourist groups of 24 tourism-friendly countries.
“The tourists will be granted visas for 30 days, with multiple entries allowed” said the notification posted on the official Twitter account of Civil Aviation Authority. The visa-on-arrival option will be available to group tourists from 24 countries.
However, tourists must plan their trip after contacting the designation tour company as the visa-on-arrival facility will be avaiable only “if the tour is organised through designated tour operators in Pakistan.”
According to an official statement issued here on Friday by Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior group tourists from U.S., UK, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and almost all Schengen states would be accorded visas by Immigration officials on arrival at any Pakistani airport.
The Group Tourist Visas on Arrival included 24 countries which are the United States of America, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, United Kingdom, Canada, China, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Singapore, Spain and Thailand.
Addressing the foreign tourists, the leaflet states, “Immigration Wing-FIA welcomes you to Pakistan and is committed to your facilitation and making your Arrivals and Departures smooth and hassle-free.”
Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation has been working positively to bring back the social, cultural, political and economic value of tourism in the country. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s image was tarnished due to the terrorism the country faced during the last decade, but now thanks to the immense efforts of Pakistan Tourism corporation that the country has regained many tourism titles.
In December 2017, Pakistan was ranked world’s leading adventure travel destination by The British Backpacker Society.
The 2017 World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (TTCR) ranked Pakistan 125th out of 136 countries, low branding and marketing effectiveness and low priority the government gave to the travel and tourism industry.
According to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 released by the World Economic Forum, the direct contribution of travel and tourism to Pakistan’s GDP in 2015 was US$ 328.3 million, constituting 2.8% of the total GDP.