Islamabad- National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza Saturday said that Pakistan has rich culture and tourism potential, which if sagaciously exploited could earn substantial amount of foreign exchange for the country. She also termed it an economic engine, which could bring prosperity in the country. She said this on her message on the World Tourism Day being commemorated under the auspicious of United Nations, throughout the world. The Speaker said that this day is being commemorated with focus on supporting measures to be adopted for prevention of sudden climatic changes, therefore, it is imperative to adopt such measures, which help in sustaining the climate for the generations to come. She said that due to global warming and sudden change in weather patterns, the climate has substantially changed resulting in less arrival of tourists to the tourist destinations in the country. The Speaker called upon the people involved in Tourism Industry, tourists and inhabitants of the tourist destinations to adopt measures for protection of fana and flora, which have a corresponding effect on climate.  She also asked the media and corporate entities to run an aggressive media campaign to make people aware of the destructive effects of climate change. She said that Pakistan is substantially contributing in the international efforts to counter the unusual climatic change besides taking steps for promotion of tourism. She said that civilizations of Harrapa, Ghandhra and Moenjodero are great source of attraction for tourists.  The Northern areas are tourists' paradise and visited by thousands of tourists every year, she added. The Speaker said Tourism in a way not only highlights the beautiful planet 'Earth' but also generates much needed revenue, which could be used to manage the global threat of climate, change. Meanwhile, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Federal Minister for Water and Power and Tourism said that government is committed to take measures for promoting tourism on national and international level as well as resolving all challenges faced by the tourism industry. He expressed these views while speaking at a seminar titled "Tourism Responding to the Challenges of Climate Change" being organised in connection with celebration of the World Tourism Day here on Saturday. Pakistan Development Tourism Corporation in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism organised the event along with photo exhibition for observing World Tourism Day in a benefiting manner. In his address the Minister said that Pakistan is a beautiful country, its have a lot of attractions for tourists. He appreciated PTDC and Ministry of Tourism for putting up interesting show despite a lot of constraints. He also appreciated work of artists who participated in photo exhibition. While speaking on the occasion Managing Director Bridger Iman Ullah said that the main purpose of World Tourism Day is to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and it social, cultural, political and economic values. He appreciated services of former secretary tourism and said that Dr Shahzad tremendously contributed in tourism sector. In his address Secretary Tourism Arif Ali said that more developed countries should encourage developing countries, which are facing more challenges of climate change. A photographic, poster, and mobile phone photography competition in connection with celebration of the World Tourism Day was also organised at the occasion. The chief guest distributed awards and prizes among the winners. Qazi Usman from Islamabad won the 1st prize in amateur category of photographic competition while Hadia Sohail of Lahore stood second. In professional category fo photographic competition Maheen (Islamabad) won first prize and E.Philip was second. Hadia Sohail was also the winner of first prize in poster competition and Mohammad Sohail won the second prize. Farah Rani (Islamabad) took first prize in mobile phone competition and Abdul Malik (Quetta) stood second. APP ADDS- Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) held different activities on Saturday to mark the world tourism day with the commitment to further speed up its efforts for development of the country's tourism industry. In Rawalpindi TDCP Regional office has charted a train namely "Tourism Train Safari" and this train will take deserving children of SOS village, Alflah Foundation and Faiz-Ul-Islam to Taxila Museum. The student will visit Railway Heritage Museum at Golra and also Taxila Museum. Iftar will be served to children during their visit. For the said purpose the train is being decorated to make the function more attractive.