The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) plans to strengthen the licensing system to combat the presence of inexperienced and unprofessional tourist guides and operators that are negatively impacting foreign perception of the country. The National Minimum Standards for Tourism and Hospitality has been developed, alongside a compulsory training program that requires licenses to be issued after training and testing by international standards. The launch of a subsidized National Tour Guide Training Program aims to train at least 5,000 tourist guides in three to four years. The program will consist of an intensive 15-day indoor training session that will include fieldwork, followed by a three-month training phase supervised by senior tourist guides and tourism firms. The program will be launched in coordination with relevant stakeholders, including the College of Tourism and Hotel Management, the Sustainable Tourism Foundation Pakistan, the Department of Tourist Services, and the Pakistan Association of Tour Operators. An extensive human resource development training program aimed to achieve global standards has also been unveiled in the coming two years, PTDC said. Future initiatives will include a campaign through national media and a ban on advertisements featuring non-licensed tourist operators, guides, and companies.