KABUL (SW) – In a serious blow to the tourism sector, literally no foreign holidaymaker visited spectacular Badakhshan province this year.
Last year, the provincial department of information and culture announced that the number of tourists visiting Badakhshan had increased significantly compared to previous years. However, this year, the figure was expected to be higher than in previous years, but with the outbreak of the coronavirus and subsequent lockdown, no foreign tourists traveled to the province.
Siddiqui Lalzad, head of tourism in the province, said 2019 was the best year for the tourism industry in Badakhshan. According to him, 472 foreign tourists, mostly citizens of Italy, Britain, the United States and Denmark, visited the province. Lalzad said that last year, a total of 45,000 foreign and local tourists visited the key tourist attractions here.
He added that dozens of Badakhshan residents who worked as tour guides, translators, and worked in hotels and transportation have all lost their jobs. There are at least 152 tourist attractions here.
According to locals, very little attention has been paid to the tourism industry in the province, and tourists have often lived in hotels that lacked facilities.
Abdul Samad, owns a private guest house in the province’s Ishkashim district on the key route to Wakhan corridor. He said that with the outbreak of the coronavirus and imposition of restrictions, no foreign tourists have visited his place.
According to Abdul Samad, in the Ishkashim and Wakhan districts – where foreign tourists travel onwards gather to move towards Wakhan National Park – more than 200 locals worked as translators, guides and service providers, but with the outbreak of the virus, all of them lost their jobs.
Having two national parks, Badakhshan is among key tourist attractions in Afghanistan.
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