Tourism and leisure in Afghanistan

Checking in at Herat International Airport (May 2011)

For most people who don't know Afghanistan, and probably for many who do, the idea of tourism in this troubled country may sound just a little bit bizarre. Even putting the security issues to one side, the infrastructure, even in the major cities, leaves a little bit to be desired (as I was reminded when we flew to Herat last year).

In fact, the closest that most foreigners have ever come to Afghan tourism is using the tourist visa loophole in Dubai that allows you to enter the country with minimal documentation and at the same time limits your time in country to one month (the perfect excuse to take a regular break!).

Buddhist stone carved frieze from Kabul Museum

However, the idea of looking at tourism and leisure as a focus sector for ABIF is really beginning to take hold in my mind. Having traveled around the country quite a bit, I have seen what is happening already and got some idea of the potential for the sector. Places like Herat and Bamyan, or more remote provinces like Badakhshan offer some intriguing possibilities for different types of tourism, and on the leisure side there is a thriving wedding hall industry, many hotels (of hugely varying quality, it has to be said) and countless restaurants, and Kabul now even boasts a ten pin bowling alley...

Restoring ceramics at Kabul Museum

So clearly, there is a growing domestic leisure market, which could create job and income opportunities for urban and rural poor. The question for ABIF is whether there are interesting concepts and capable applicants out there. Is this a sector where we could add value?

In this respect our first round was quite promising. There were one or two concepts specifically about tourism or leisure, and then there were concept notes in areas such as handicrafts and vocational skills development that could be relevant to the sector in one way or another.

Interior of Zia Shah's car, awaiting restoration at Kabul museum

Before getting too carried away, obviously this needs some very careful reflection. So to encourage such contemplation of the potential and  also to inspire a bit of creative thinking, I dropped into the Kabul Museum after a meeting at the nearby American University this morning.

Despite the freezing cold rooms (that do not encourage the winter visitor to linger), seeing the amazing combination of ancient treasures and the triumph over much more recent history that this exhibition represents was really quite exciting. I was particularly taken by the small collection of artifacts from the Aynak excavation. The simple elegance and beauty of the stone and (most surprisingly, given the age of the site) wooden carved Buddhas was breathtaking.

Walking around Kabul museum made me think about the experience I have of working on cultural tourism related projects in Bulgaria, where just a few years ago this was a very neglected sector... but the real question for Afghanistan is about the wider potential and whether tourism and leisure projects could be implemented in Afghanistan in a commercially viable way? And if so, who (if anyone) would be interested to do so?

Darul Aman palace, Kabul

If anyone reading this blog has experience of domestic tourism and leisure or (let's call it) "extreme tourism" in inaccessible parts of the world, or is knowledgeable in the subject and could offer some useful advice, I would be very interested to hear suggestions as to what might or might not work in Afghanistan.

We have a bit of time before we have to finalise the focus sectors and themes for Round 2 of the fund, but it would be good to start thinking about whether we should try something quite so innovative as tourism in Afghanistan.