Aftab-ur-Rehman Rana, the founder President of Sustainable Tourism Foundation Pakistan and former Director General of Adventure Foundation Pakistan, has been appointed as the Managing Director of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) on honorary basis with immediate effect,

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Aftab-ur-Rehman Rana appointed as MD of PTDC
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Aftab-ur-Rehman Rana, the founder President of Sustainable Tourism Foundation
Pakistan and former Director General of Adventure Foundation Pakistan, has been
appointed as the Managing Director of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation
(PTDC) on honorary basis with immediate effect, as per the official notification issued by
the Cabinet Division, Government of Pakistan. His appointment was approved in the
meeting of Federal Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minster of Pakistan Imran Khan on April
1, 2021.
Aftab-ur-Rehman Rana is s seasoned tourism professional having more than 35 years of
experience of tourism industry. He is a well-known figure in tourism industry especially
due to his pioneering efforts for the promotion of sustainable tourism, responsible
tourism, ecotourism, community based tourism, youth tourism and heritage tourism in
Pakistan. He has extensively traveled throughout the country and abroad and has vast
experience of tourism policy formulation, product development, destination development,
tourism human resource development, tourism planning, marketing, and promotion. Mr.
Rana is an active contributor of his professional vision at various national and
international forums of tourism industry.

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Mr. Rana has worked with public, private and non-governmental sectors and has done
extensive work for the formulation of provincial tourism polices and national tourism
strategy for Pakistan. He has also worked as a tourism development consultant with
USAID, Asian Development Bank, World Bank and other international development
organizations on the projects of tourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Balochistan
and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Aftab-ur-Rehman Rana is also an acclaimed tourism educator and trainer and is
associated with the National Institute of Administration at Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi,
Peshawar and Quetta as visiting faculty member. He has also conducted many trainings
courses for tourism professionals and hospitality staff members in different parts of
Pakistan and has developed the skills of thousands of works to meet the ever-growing
demand of trained workforce in Pakistan. He has also been a member of National
Curriculum Committee of Higher Education Commission on Tourism and Hospitality and
a member of Board of Studies of Tourism Facility of Hazara University, Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa.
He has also contributed three travel guide books on Kaghan Valley, Swat Valley and
Chitral Valley. He writes regularly on tourist places of Pakistan and about issues of
tourism industry. His articles have been published in leading newspapers and tourism
magazines.
His efforts for the promotion of tourism have been acknowledged internationally and
nationally and he has received a number of awards including Commonwealth Asia Award
for Excellence, the Trainer of The Year Award from the South Asia Tourism Human
Resource Development Project (SATHRDP), Government of Pakistan’s Better Pakistan-
2010 Excellence Award in the field of Tourism Promotion, Pride of Mountains Award for
the promotion of Sustainable Tourism and Excellence Award in Nature Conservation and
Youth Tourism by AFP. He is also a Fellow of Leadership for Environment and
Development.
His appointment as the Managing Director of PTDC will provide an opportunity to
improve the coordination among the tourism industry stakeholders and to bridge the gap
between the public and private sector for the sustainable growth of tourism industry and
build the image of Pakistan as a tourism destination across the world.