Reviving tourism in Afghanistan

CNN reports on the difficult development of tourism in Afghanistan. Ecotravel News has previously reported on eco-tourism development in the country in July 2008.

One of the safest provinces in this war-torn country is Bamiyan; infamous for giant Buddha statues that were blown up by the Taliban in 2001.

"The natural resources and cultural resources here are probably the single best place for economic development to happen, around revitalizing the tourism industry here," says Bob Thelen, the representative for the Aga Khan Development Network in Bamiyan. The nonprofit organization has been working with the government of New Zealand to distribute $1.2 million over a three-year period to develop eco-tourism as an industry in Bamiyan.

Read the full story: Afghanistan's Bamiyan province struggles to build tourism

Photo by B. Praxenthaler / ICOMOS Germany

Afghanistan ecotourism

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on the ecotourism efforts in Afghanistan.

The Aga Khan Foundation, an Afghan NGO, says that the Bamiyan area (known for the giant Buddhas that the Taliban infamously blew up in 2001) in the center of the country is safe. The Foundation created the Bamiyan Ecotourism Project (BEP) to "raise awareness of the region's natural attractions."

Afghanistan isn't on most tourist itineraries because most of the country is in the midst of instability and civil war making it unsafe for travelers. The U.S. State Department advises against travel to the country.

But despite this the BEP says tourists looking for nature can enjoy "Afghanistan's first national park, a 220-square-mile zone around Band-i-Amir [that has] six sapphire-blue lakes set amid barren sandstone badlands."

Read the full story: Tough sell: touring audacious Afghanistan