HEIDI VOGT | The Associated Press
BAMIYAN, Afghanistan — There’s a new building in town, and it isn’t a military barracks or a hospital. It’s a Tourist Information Center.
Even as troops fight militants in the south, government officials and donors in Afghanistan’s central Bamiyan valley are training tour guides and teaching restaurateurs about customer service. It’s an attempt to draw tourism and return one small part of Afghanistan to normalcy.
The challenges are many — landmines, dangerous roads outside Bamiyan, and, not least, Afghanistan’s reputation as anything but a tourist haven. But the hope is to persuade history buffs and adventure seekers that Afghanistan can be safe, and locals are eager to give it a shot.
The tourism training program is funded through a Geneva-based Islamic organization, the Aga Khan Development Network, as part of a $1.2-million ecotourism program.All Afghan tourism initiatives are currently funded by international donors, according to Deputy Minister for Tourism Ghulam Nabi Farahi.
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