April 09, 2021
The Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture (MoIC) announced on April 8th, 2021 that it has ordered the Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management to help enhance the tourism sector in Afghanistan.
The institute was established two years ago with the objective to recruit students for receiving training in the field of hotel management and tourism.
At present, the institute is training three categories of students in Kabul. 27 people are employed in the structure of the institute and it is aiming to expand its training programs to Badakhshan, Bamiyan and other historically significant sites in the provinces.
During the 1970s, over 120,000 tourists were visiting only Bamiyan province in central Afghanistan. After agriculture, tourism was the second largest income source for Afghanistan, but unfortunately, it was ignored in the last 20 years, had work been done in the development of tourism sector in Afghanistan, it could have become a decent income source for Afghanistan.
The government’s display of concern towards this crucial sector is a positive sign because tourism sector can be a tool for achieving economic stability if run effectively. Tourism boosts the revenue of the economy by creating a significantly huge number of jobs, developing the infrastructure of a country, and also plants a sense of cultural exchange between foreigners and citizens. Afghanistan has the option to undertake partnerships with the regional countries especially Pakistan, to work together for the advancement of tourism sector in both the countries.
© Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) and Afghan Studies Center (ASC), Islamabad.
