Tourism picking up despite drop in number of foreign visitors

KABUL (Pajhwok): The number of foreign tourist has declined but more locals are visiting different parts of the country, the Ministry of Information and Culture said on Tuesday.

Addressing a gathering on World Tourism Day here, Deputy Minister of Information Zardasht Shamssaid tourism contributed 10 percent to the global economy and 1.2 billion people travelled to different parts of the world.

He said 200,000 foreign tourists landed in Afghanistan annually but the number had dropped for security reasons. He, however, noted the number of local tourists had risen.

Shams said 160,000 people visited Band-i-Ameer in central Bamyan province and 770,000 streamed to the Babar Park in Kabul. Thousands of locals went sightseeing in a number of historic and scenic areas.

The ministry has chalked out a tourism development plan, inviting people from neighboring countries to visit the historical places in Afghanistan. The government will provide them all facilities.

According Shams, a tourism development board will be established and in the near future, a semi-government institute of tourism set up in collaboration with the Ministry of Education

nh/mud