LAHORE: Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Dr Shahid Munir on Tuesday said that it is fact that international education tourism is one of the rapidly growing sectors of the world economy beyond doubts.
Talking to a leading industrialists led by Coordinator to Federal Tax Ombudsman Meher Kashif Younis, he said education tourism is one of best ways to help students to gain a good multiple perspective around the world and helps in obtaining new varied cultures with multifaceted rich experiences in various fields of the visiting countries. He said education tourism sector has emerged as new engine of economic sustainability. He said government should focus on providing infrastructures as per international standards to attract foreign students in various teaching disciplines of varsities with affordable packages besides imparting high equality education by top class foreign qualified distinguished Pakistani teachers.
Dr Shahid Munir said education tourism sector has a high prospect to be developed by taking into account the demand factors of international students to pursue studies abroad and its spill over affects to higher education productivity.
Another member of the delegation and CEO Discover Pakistan Dr Kaiser Rafique highlighting the significance of digital marketing said it plays a vital role in promoting the services and packages lured by various educational institutions and other companies across the world.
He was of the opinion that various countries are promoting educational tourism as part of their strategy to boost the local economy. He said the host countries benefit from international students accommodation expenditures, food, beverages, tuition fees, taxes and other leisure activities. Winding up his views based on his lifelong rich experience, he said the number of international students has been steadily increasing over the last three decades and China, India and Korea are their top global students providers. He said the most popular destinations for educational tourism are US, UK, France, Germany, Australia and Japan which hosts around 62 percent of world’s total international students population.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022