It is evident to even the casual observer that countries who advertise the most are the ones that come off as very ‘visitable’. I really do not recall Pakistan doing an international campaign of any magnitude to entice people to come to Pakistan, although the government does claim to be celebrating ‘tourism year’ almost every year!

It is a charm, a real charm, to see Indyeah ads on NatGeo or the India’s Minister of Science himself appearing in adverts for the country on international channels such as the one mentioned or Discovery etc. I say it is charming because that is creativity finding its way even on government projects, and that is something quite hard a feat to acheive. Finding common sense in bureaucracy overlayed with politics in any country is a charm for me! Creativity and common business sense in Pakistani outlook to their ownselves is yet to be seen!

I sometimes wonder how easy it would be to market Pakistan, my homeland, as a great tourism spot. We have almost everything a tourist can possibly want, and I say that after some considerable research. Of course, marketing Pakistan would be easy only if Creativity and Common business sense is employed over the whole spectrum, from the simple ads and endorsements to the information heavy, simple websites to the overhaul of tourism-critical embassies around the world. Much, much easier said than done I am sure. For starters, finding people with Creativity and Common business sense will be a job and a half (the capitalization of these words is deliberate for they are almost an identity in themselves, and as much important). Our businesses don’t seem to find much of creativity in their communications, and for all practical purposes, a government is usually behind her businesses in almost all departments.

Common business sense as far as governments are concerned is quite aptly defined by Seth Godin in this post. I wonder if someone like Seth Godin (a Marketer from the States, more details on Wikipedia here) would consider visiting Pakistan; given that we have our ‘travel alerts’ and the works, Pakistan’s unbelievable North, the deserts and the plains and the heritage in the form of Pakistani World Heritage Sites if nothing else should be ample material for any government to work on!

But more importantly, would you visit Pakistan? And why?

—

Subscribe to Treetech Communications’ online magazine to stay up-to-date on the latest in Advertising, Web Marketing and Branding in Pakistan.

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing?”

The eagle answered: “Sure , why not.”

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: