Under the Punjab Tourism for Economic Growth Project (PTEGP) the Government of Punjab will undertake the following initiatives to support the Private Sector:
- 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
- Strengthening 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.
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.)