VZCZCXRO7688
OO RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #3043/01 2730746
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 300746Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1761
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 003043 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID SENV AF
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR AFGHANISTAN'S NASCENT 
TOURISM INDUSTRY: PROGRESS BUT LONG ROAD AHEAD 
 
REF: KABUL 1391 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY:  The Aga Khan Foundation's tourism project 
in Bamyan is making steady progress towards realization of 
the province's tourism potential.  The project has completed 
nearly 70 initiatives including the opening of a tourism 
center and production of an annual three-day Silk Road 
Festival.  The majority of visitors to Afghanistan's most 
important tourist area have so far been Afghans, but a modest 
number of foreigners have contributed to provincial tourism 
sector revenues, predicted to reach US$300,000 in 2009. 
Despite good progress, Bamyan's ability to realize its full 
tourism potential in the near term is hindered by road and 
air access to the province, poor basic infrastructure, and, 
according to Governor Sarobi, chronic discrimination from 
Kabul.  USG funding of NGOs has played a critical role, 
especially in the establishment earlier this year of 
Band-e-Amir as Afghanistan's first national park.  The Bamyan 
Provincial Reconstruction Team has funded road improvement 
expected to cut travel time from Kabul by 50 percent. The 
ultimate validation of the province's success as a tourist 
destination may be the return of both Afghan and regional 
tourists to Bamyan. END SUMMARY 
 
NGO Aga Khan Leading the Tourism Charge 
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¶2. (U) Recently, the Aga Khan Foundation chaired a two-hour 
meeting on tourism in which Governor Sarobi and 
representatives from the United Nations Assistance Mission to 
Afghanistan (UNAMA), the United Nations Environment Program 
(UNEP), the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), and several 
ministries participated.  Through its tourism initiative 
(largely funded by the New Zealand aid agency, NZAID), Aga 
Khan has become the driving force behind building and growing 
Bamyan's nascent tourism industry.  Starting with the 
establishment of an Ecotourism Office in late 2008, the 
project has been busy, completing nearly 70 activities 
ranging from intensive training courses that have trained 
dozens of guides and marketing activities to study trips and 
staging first three-day Silk Road Festival, planned to be 
held in June each year.  The project intends to time the 
launch of its website (www.bamyantourism) with the natf 7,000 beautifully-made 
Bamyan 
tourism brochures (developed with the assistance of USAID and 
the Wildlife Conservation Society and currently being printed 
in Pakistan).  The project is also in the initial stages of 
building a visitor database. 
 
¶3. (U) While Aga Khan,s Eco-Tourism Program has become the 
main focal point for developing Bamyan,s tourism potential, 
USG efforts have also been instrumental.  USAID has supported 
three NGOs, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the 
environmental consulting company ECODIT, and the 
International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, 
each of which has worked to establish Band-e-Amir as 
Afghanistan's first national park.  WCS developed the park's 
management plan and is currently negotiating revenue benefit 
sharing options with several GIROA ministries.  WCS is also 
working toward the establishment of two protected areas, one 
in Bamyan,s Aja Valley (the former royal hunting grounds) 
and the other in Badakshan Province, and  has submitted a new 
5-year plan concept note to USAID. 
 
Low Numbers, But Promising Growth 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
4.(U) Aga Khan representatives reported that 1,750 visitors 
purchased tickets to see the site of the former Bamyan 
Buddhas in 2008 of which 950 were Afghans and 800 were 
foreigners.  This year, 1,709 (1,155 Afghans, 554 foreigners) 
tickets have been sold.  With three months remaining in the 
year, the total number of visitors should easily exceed 2008 
figures.  In 2008, the three main hotels reported a combined 
total of 1,050 guests.  In the five-month period between 
April and August of this year, these establishments reported 
770 guests.  Estimates predict that the two biggest hotels - 
Silk Road Hotel and Rooftop of Bamyan - will earn a combined 
$100K in revenues in 2009.  Province-wide revenue estimates 
for tourism in 2009 are US$300,000.  The goal for 2010 is 
US$500,000. 
 
Main Challenges 
- - - - - - - - 
 
5.(U) While the Aga Khan project, in coordination with 
provincial government authorities, is making steady progress 
creating a solid basis for tourism, several challenges 
 
KABUL 00003043  002 OF 002 
 
 
remain.  Not surprisingly, poor infrastructure remains the 
primary problem.  Today, there is no commercial airline 
service to Bamyan and the provincial authorities' seeming 
inability to secure the runway from foot, vehicle, and animal 
traffic leaves the province teetering on the edge of losing 
even aid agency and USG flights.  There is also an on-going 
land dispute between the government and four villages which 
have reportedly never been compensated for expropriated land 
and threaten to cut down fences erected around the airport's 
perimeter.  By road, potential tourists face a daunting 7-8 
hour car ride from Kabul along difficult and, in some parts, 
dangerous roads.  CERP-funded work is under way along a 16km 
section of road from Bamyan to a point 8km inside Parwan.  A 
request for additional CERP funds has been made for two other 
sections of the road totaling 29km.  The Italians are 
responsible for the last 15km of road into Bamyan city, but 
no work is yet underway on this section. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In addition to these access issues, the province 
suffers from a severe lack of general tourism infrastructure 
and services - hotel space, a reasonable selection of dining 
options, and transportation services.  Although  strides have 
been made in training, marketing, and preparing for tourism, 
Bayman Governor Habiba Sarobi remains frustrated.  She told a 
senior Mission delegation visiting on September 26 that 
tourism development is her number one priority for the 
province.  She has also accused the central government of 
discriminating against the Hazaran people, claiming that 
their efforts are stifled or rejected by central government 
authorities in Kabul.  She cited one recent incident 
involving Band-e-Amir National Park in which, despite having 
reached agreement with local residents to build a campsite 
area and guest houses, the Ministry of Agriculture in Kabul 
wrote a harsh letter to Governor Sarobi forbidding the 
project from moving forward. 
 
Recent Successes Highlight Potential 
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¶7. (U) Bamyan's success in tourist development will 
ultimately require the support and participation of a broad 
base of stakeholders.  An excellent example of the power of 
such collaboration is the recent success of the province's 
week-long celebration of Peace Day.  Successful 
implementation of the over 20 public activities required the 
participation and cooperation of the Eco-Tourism Program, 
UNAMA, UNEP, the Governor's office, youth groups, the PRT, 
and several other local organizations.  The week's main event 
) a 12-mile Peace Trek on September 25 ) saw the 
participation of over 250 people, including approximately 40 
visitors representing nearly a dozen different international 
organizations, dozens of children and teens, and a large 
contingent of men and women from the local communities where 
the event was staged.  The following evening, Governor Sarobi 
and the Eco-tourism office, with significant 
behind-the-scenes support from the PRT, hosted a cultural 
evening to celebrate traditional music, dance, handicrafts, 
and food.  There were approximately 80 people in attendance 
including the Deputy Minister of Information and Culture, the 
Belgian Ambassador, senior USAID officials, a Japanese 
Embassy representative, CJTF and TF Cyclone Senior Civilian 
Representatives, TF Cyclone,s Commanding General, 
journalists, and representatives from UN agencies and NGOs. 
During the event, Governor Sarobi emphasized the importance 
of tourism to Bamyan,s future development and underscored 
the importance of national and international collaboration to 
make this dream come true. 
Comment 
------- 
¶8. (U) While the ultimate validation of Bamyan's success as a 
tourist destination may be perceived as the number of Western 
tourists who visit the province, of much greater importance 
-- and a true measure of success -- is the return of both 
Afghan and regional tourists to Bamyan.  While the number of 
paying visitors to the Buddhas site is still small, over 
20,000 people visited Band-e-Amir lakes last year, the vast 
majority of them Afghans.  Of the 5,000-plus visitors to the 
three-day Silk Road Festival held in June, nearly all were 
Afghans.  Without USAID,s funding support, it unlikely that 
efforts to establish the Band-e-Amir National Park would have 
succeeded. 
EIKENBERRY