New Zealand Supports Tourism to Afghanistan

SEE VIDEO video.nytimes.com/video/2006/12/05/world/1194817116505/afghanistan-s-stone-buddhas.html

New Zealand has given $2 million to the Bamiyan province in Afghanistan to fully develop its tourist potential.

With breath-taking scenes, archaeological treasures and a unique cascade of lakes, tourism is becoming the only remaining hope for Afghans to escape from grinding poverty. Amir Foladi, head of the new Bamiyan Ecotourism Programme, said the area has unique historical sites that could attract thousands of tourists, but due to lack of funds and security, is unable to.

Bamiyan province became infamous a few years before the American invasion of Afghanistan when the Taliban blew up the giant Buddhas that had been hewn into the rocks for over 1500 years.

Apart from the Buddhas and other world heritage sites, the area also boasts spectacular scenery and a unique cascade of lakes that just last month became Afghanistan’s first national park.

Bamiyan, nestled in the heart of Afghanistan, boasts breath-taking scenery and a sprawling collection of world heritage, including the remains of giant Buddhas blown up by the Taliban in 2001.

The area also has a unique cascade of lakes that last month became Afghanistan’s first national park.

"Bamiyan is a very famous place," said Najibullah Ahrai, head of information and culture for the province. "These are vital assets for the local people."

Tourism has died down in Afghanistan because of the raging violence in the war-wracked central Asian country. Decades of war and the devastation in the country has left their touches on the area. Many parts of Bamiyan still lie in ruins and lack tourist basic amenities. The province has also poor roads.

A dirt road makes the less than 200 km (125 miles) drive from Kabul a bone-jarring nine hour odyssey, and the dirt airstrip cannot handle commercial planes. There are only two decent hotels in Bamiyan, one run by a Japanese journalist who first came to Afghanistan in the 1990s.

Now, work is underway to turn Bamiyan into a tourist attraction once again.
"When we have the paved road it will bring lots of national tourists," said Foladi. "It will be enough for Bamiyan until the security situation gets better."

Many foreign countries and aid groups have offered help to locals to rebuild the tourism industry in the province.

New Zealand has given $1.2 million to Foladi’s project, which will last three years.

The ambitious venture is helping fund small guesthouses around the province, training staff, setting up a tour guide service, developing pamphlets and trying to lure in tourists with events such as a festival for the Persian new year.

Work has also started on an asphalt road and in Bamiyan, with the goal of drawing the middle-class Afghans seeking an escape from the capital’s dusty, over-crowded streets.

Bamiyan was getting over 60,000 tourists a year before the US invasion in 2001. Foladi said the tourists’ numbers dropped by around half as recently as 2005, when the security situation was better.

However, some adventurous foreign tourists are still making it to Afghanistan, and enjoying themselves there. "I am quite interested in going to places that are a little bit different," said British teacher Toby Waterson. Waterson came to Afghanistan to visit a friend who works at the United Nations and ended up travelling to the relatively safe north of the country.

Taken by the country’s breath-taking scenes, Waterson pushed back his departure by several days to see more of it. Now, many Bamiyan residents hope that a revived tourism industry in the province would offer them a way-out of their grinding poverty. "We are not losing our hope, many other projects are happening at this time, and you cannot do nothing just because you are afraid," Foladi said.

Source: Reuters, TVNZ,  Islam online

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