ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari on Tuesday said a National Tourism E-portal was going to be launched to provide information and facilitation to foreign and domestic tourists on one click. Addressing to the 11th session of Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers (ICTM- June 27-29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, the minister said it should be a matter for collective pride that increasing number of ministers were participating in the Intra-OIC cooperation for Tourism, said a press release issued here. He said tourism was a mainstay of our economies and most important source of generating valuable foreign exchange, economic growth and employment in OIC Member States. The theme of the session was Role of local communities in tourism development. He said unfortunately, there were several challenges impeding growth and development of this vital sector ranging from lack of peace and stability, weak infrastructural base, weak/nonexistent regulations and standards. The Minister said the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to significant losses in Tourism sector in the OIC Member States including Pakistan viz-a-viz tourism receipts, employment in tourism sector. In post COVID scenario, owing to immense challenges faced by nascent tourism sector of OIC Countries, there is a need to facilitate knowledge and technology transfers and offer technical assistance for capacity building in member States to increase preparedness for future shocks that could hamper course of development in Tourism due to natural calamities or armed conflicts. The global Tourism market was all set to be more competitive in post Covid-19 Scenario, owing to new technological advances, new health and safety regulations, hence it is imperative that OIC Member States take necessary steps that promote Tourism.