“The donors show us the corners of the dollar bills but keep the sacks of dollars for themselves”

My name is Sayed Zamanuddin Baha.

I am the head of Afghan Tours.

My office is part of the Ministry of Information and Culture and we help develop tourism policy. We also monitor improvements in the tourism sector as well as keeping an eye on the private companies operating in the field – we want to do our best to make tourism better for our visitors.

Afghanistan is located at the heart of Asia, on the Silk Road. We have many places of historical interest. My top priority is protecting those sites, and then building facilities near them for tourists.

In the sixties and seventies, tourism flourished here. We had about 120,000 people visiting Afghanistan each year, generating many millions of dollars. But then after 1979, when the Soviets invaded, security deteriorated and tourism dried up. It was only when Hamid Karzai became president that we were able to start our work reviving tourism.

Until a decade ago, all tourism in Afghanistan was government run. But when the present government came to power we established a market system. Now 600 private companies provide 80 per cent of services. I make sure those companies operate safely. Tourists who see that a guesthouse has our licence can know it’s a safe and good place.

My second priority is to establish an Institute for Tourism. Back in our heyday, we had 500 staff working as professional guides and translators. We want the Institute to train new staff like we used to have. Construction work on the building will start this year and I hope it will be ready for the first intake of students in 2013.

We do have budget problems. I have just enough money from the government to pay the salaries of our 100 staff. We generate just enough money from providing tourist visas and licences to private companies to make us self-sufficient. But we don’t have any money to tackle large projects.

I wish the international community would support us more. The donors show us the corners of the dollar bills but keep the sacks of dollars for themselves. I would like the international donors to help us develop this field.

We have membership of the WTO [the World Tourist Organisation] and we have marketing strategy. We have published various brochures, postcards and calendars with pictures of historical sites that we have sent to various embassies and international NGOS. It means that foreign people will get some information about Afghanistan.

Other than cash, insecurity is the biggest challenge to tourism. If we had security it is clear that tourism would start to boom. But as long as we have insecurity no one will come to visit our historical places.

I have people from all over the world calling me up asking if I can help arrange a trip to Tora Bora and the caves where Osama Bin Laden escaped from the US. So many people want to come and see those caves. I tell them, “OK! Come! We will help you!” We are ready to help everyone and provide them with everything they need, and guarantee their safety there and back. But no one ever comes.

Tourism is an amazing and wonderful business. I want people to come here, take photos, buy some traditional clothes and jewel, and go home with empty pockets. I hope in the future tourism is one of the biggest sources of income for our country.