As tourists trickle into Afghanistan, Taliban government eager to welcome them

Kabul: By plane, motorbike, camper van and even on bicycles, tourists are beginning to discover Afghanistan, with solo travellers and tour groups gradually venturing into a country that until recently was wracked by war.

And the country’s Taliban government, which seized power more than three years ago but has yet to be formally recognised by any other nation, is more than happy to welcome them.

“The Afghan people are warm and welcoming and wish to host tourists from other countries and engage with them,” Deputy Minister of Tourism Qudratullah Jamal told The Associated Press in an early June interview.

“Tourism brings many benefits to a country. We have considered those benefits and aim for our nation to take full advantage of them.”

Tourism is a vital, multi-billion-dollar industry for many countries.

Afghanistan’s isolation on the international stage, largely because of the Taliban’s restrictions on women and girls, has left much of its 41 million people mired in poverty. As it struggles to attract foreign investment, the lucrative potential of tourism is far from lost on the government.

“We are currently earning a considerable amount of revenue from this industry, and we are hopeful it will grow even more in the future,” Jamal said, noting money spent by visitors can reach more layers of society than revenue from other industries. “We are optimistic this sector will evolve into a large economy, bringing significant benefits. It plays an important role in strengthening our national economy.”

Tourist visas are quick and easy to obtain and flights from major transit hubs such as Dubai and Istanbul operate several times a week. The government has even set up a training institute for men — and it is only for men — seeking jobs in the hospitality and tourism sector.

While visitor numbers are still very much a trickle rather than a flood, they are increasing. Nearly 9,000 foreign tourists visited Afghanistan last year, while nearly 3,000 people visited in the first three months of this year, Jamal said.

Four decades of near-continuous conflict kept nearly all vacationers away from this landlocked country of towering mountains, deep gorges and millennia of history.

The Taliban’s takeover from a US-backed government in August 2021 stunned the world and sent thousands of Afghans fleeing. But with the insurgency over, the bloodshed from frequent bombings and suicide attacks all but ended too.

Attacks still occur, however. An Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan remains active and gunmen killed six people, including three Spanish tourists, in a May 2024 attack in Bamiyan, one of the country’s main tourist attractions where centuries-old giant Buddhas carved into the cliffs were blown up by the Taliban in 2001.

While Western countries still advise against travel to Afghanistan, a drop in violence from the two decades of US-led military presence is indisputable, as the government is keen to point out.