Afghanistan, a risky tourist destination

Kabul (EFE).- The promise of authentic adventure in less-traveled corners of the planet is luring tourists to violent Afghanistan, with nearly 5,000 foreign tourists arriving between March 2023 and March 2024 despite Taliban rule and international warnings. Do not visit the country for any reason.

Most tourists last year have come from neighboring China, a result of good diplomatic relations between Beijing and the de facto Taliban government. But Muhajir Farahi, the hardline government’s deputy minister of information and culture, recently told EFE that tourists from European countries had also come there.

The Taliban have made efforts to strengthen the security situation in the country since their arrival in August 2021, and although attacks have decreased since they carried out the majority of attacks before taking power, the presence of the group jihadist Islamic State remains at its most It has become a big challenge.

An attack last Friday on a group of foreign tourists in a market in the city of Bamiyan, in the center of the country, a popular tourist destination for its archaeological heritage, put this influx of visitors in the spotlight.

According to the Spanish government, in addition to the three Afghans, three tourists of Spanish nationality died and four others – a Spanish woman, a Lithuanian woman, a Norwegian and an Australian – were injured.

According to the Taliban, the attack was carried out by unidentified gunmen who fired at tourists from a vehicle.

One of the least visited countries

The 5,000 visitors last year is a number that is a far cry from the approximately 90,000 foreigners who visited the Asian nation in 1970, decades before the rise of the Taliban.

Insecurity has increased instability, making it one of the least visited tourist destinations in the world, according to World Bank international tourism income data dating back to 2020.

The country has beautiful landscapes, especially thanks to its mountainous regions, and in the 60s and 70s, before the Soviet invasion in 1979, and in the United States in 2001, the famous ‘Hippie Trail’ between Europe and South Asia. Was part of.

Although the return of the Taliban to power after victory in the war in August 2021 meant a complete collapse of tourism, the country is increasingly trying to become an attractive destination, particularly promoted by radicals .

A UK-based online travel agency guides visitors to “Afghanistan’s hidden gems and rich cultural tapestry; A land that has captivated hearts for centuries,” the approximately nine-day trip departing from Kabul starts at $2,858 per person.

The most attractive and exotic are the provinces of Kandahar, Ghazni, Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Bamiyan and Kabul.

In addition to its lakes and caves, the giant stone statues of Buddha that were once destroyed by the Taliban because they were considered examples of idolatry have made Bamiyan famous, which has since become one of the safest areas in a devastated country. Considered one of the decades of war and conflict.