for comments
Draft
Bamiyan Tourism Development Policy
December 2006
Government of Bamiyan
Afghanistan
Contact: Bamyangovernor@yahoo.com
or
amirfooladi@gmail.com
1Background and Introduction 1.1Bamiyan Overview – Socio-economic conditions
Population and People
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Population: 470, 500 in 2000 villages (AKF 2002)
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Size: 17,414 sq km (Universiteit Utrecht 2001)
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Climate: high mountain desert, cold winters and warm summers
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Population growth rate: 3.8 % (World Bank 2002, Afghanistan average)
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Percentage of population less than 20 years old: 57% (Solidarites/UNAMA survey 2003, Bamiyan average)
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Language: Dari, a form of Afghan Persian
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Ethnic groups: Hazara 90%; Pashtoon and Tajik 10%
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Religion: Islam: Shia 70%; Sunni 30% (AKF M&E 2004)
Social Indicators
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Life expectancy : 43 years, (World Health Organization 2002, Afghanistan average)
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Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births): 165 (AKF 2002, Bamiyan average)
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Maternal Mortality rate (per 1000 live births) 1,700 (AKF 2002, Bamiyan average)
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Child malnutrition (% of children under five): 49% (World Bank 2002, Afghanistan average)
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Poverty rate: 80% of population living at subsistence level (World Bank 2002, Afghanistan average)
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Total Fertility Rate 6.9 children for child-bearing woman (World Health Organization 2001, Afghanistan average)
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Literacy rate (as defined as those age 15 and over who can read and write):
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female: range 0.5% (low Saighan district) – 6% (high Bamiyan Centre district)
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male: range: 6% (low Saighan district) – 31% (high Bamiyan Centre district) (Solidarites/UNAMA survey 2003)
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Percentage of schools with covered building: 47% (Solidarites/UNAMA survey 2003)
Economic
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GDP per capita: $250 (World Bank 2002, Afghanistan average)
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Agricultural products: Potatoes, wheat, beans, maize, walnuts, apples, apricots, dried yogurt
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Other economic activities: Small tourism infrastructure centred on giant Buddhas, basic handicrafts and weaving and limited coal mining in Kahmard district.
1.2Why Tourism Development?
Tourism development is very important for Bamiyan. Being part of the high mountainous region, the scope for agricultural development is limited by topography and weather. In the large majority of areas, it is possible to take only one agricultural crop during the entire year. Even livestock has to be stall-fed and protected from the cold for three-four months of the year.
The absence of good roads, lack of electricity, and its relative isolation in the mountains, suggests that manufacturing and industry cannot grow quickly in these areas. Thus, an economic development policy for Bamiyan cannot rely on agriculture and manufacturing to be its growth engines.
The positive features for Tourism Development in Bamiyan are the large number of historical, natural, and cultural sites that it possesses. These include the World Heritage Sites of the Bamiyan Cultural Landscape and Band-e-Amir (proposed). Developed and managed properly, these sites could very easily serve as growth engines for the province, driving economic growth and incomes for the poor.
1.3Potential Benefits
It is estimated that within ten years, tourism would account for 30% of the provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Going by conservative estimates (Annex B), the income from tourism would be USD 104 million per annum. Out of this 75% of the income would come from international tourists and 25% of the income would come from national tourists. Assuming that 40% of the tourist spend from international tourists, and 25% from national tourists is retained, the provincial economy would benefit with USD 38 million/ annum income.
The tourism industry would, going by conservative estimates generate direct employment of 7,200 people, plus employment of at least 5,000 people in the construction industry over three years. Taking a multiplier of 1.3, the tourism industry would generate at least 9,300 additional indirect employment.
The additional income in the provincial economy, the additional number of jobs, the improved infrastructure, and the heightened visibility would give a tremendous fillip to economic activity in the region, and spur investments in a number of other sectors, most notably power and energy, mining, transportation, agriculture, banking, etc.
This positive spiral would boost the provincial and the national economies and considerably raise the standards of living of the provincial populations.
1.4What type of Tourism?
The large majority of the population in Bamiyan is poor. This suggests that Tourism Development in Bamiyan should necessarily benefit the poor of the region through jobs, enterprise opportunities, and community development. Tourism that does not benefit the poor and the local population of Bamiyan, would not serve as the growth engine for the province, and would, in the long run engender animosity towards the tourism industry. Simultaneously, tourism development should be able to should add to the conservation of the historical, natural and cultural sites and traditions, while sustainably managing the environmental impacts.
1.5Need for a Tourism Development Policy
There is no existing ‘tourism development policy’ for the province. Some developments are taking place, largely driven by the private sector. These are often short term in nature, with an eye on quick profits. Their development is often endangering the historical, natural, and cultural assets.
Importantly, the absence of a policy is preventing the development of a well organised tourism industry in the province. The vision of the government, the strategic directions it wishes to take, and the action steps that it plans to take are not clear to potential investors and other members of the tourism industry worldwide.
A Tourism Development Policy would provide a vision for tourism development, assess the current state of affairs, describe the sites available for development, and set out the strategic directions of the government. This would be useful to the assistance community in Afghanistan to potential investors, and to interested members of the tourism industry worldwide.
1.6Policy Development Process
A series of consultations were held to develop the policy. The first of these was a multi-stakeholder consultation involving government officials, NGO representatives, community (shoora) representatives, and representatives from the local hotel and restaurant industry. The first consultation was inaugurated by the Provincial Governor. The other two consultations were held with Directors of some government departments in Bamiyan. All these consultations were designed in the workshop mode, and involved group and individual work by the participants. Considerable basic information included in this document came out of these consultations.
Information was also collected through a survey of hotels, restaurants, handicraft shops, transportation and other activity service providers (boat services) in Bamiyan and Band-e-Amir.
2Policy 2.1Elements of the Policy Document
This document consists of two main sections:
a) analysis, and
b) policy
The analysis section analyses the current tourism situation in the province. The analytical framework follows the standard economic analysis model of looking at demand and supply issues separately. Demand here would mean the tourist arrivals, the potential for tourist arrivals, methods to stimulate interest in the tourist sites and converting this interest into actual arrivals. Supply here would mean the sites and products of potential tourist interest, sources of competitive advantage, the facilities available, activity services available, other service providers (food, ground transportation, etc), regulatory issues and the government departments and agencies involved.
The policy section looks at the sites available, their developmental needs, and develops a priority list for development. It also talks about the measures the government intends to take to attract private and public sector investment, measures for enabling the local population especially the poor to take part in the development of the industry, and the potential implementing partners. Strategies and institutional frameworks for stimulating interest in Bamiyan, and then converting them to actual tourist arrivals are also set out.
2.2Analysis 2.2.1Supply Side Issues
2.2.1.1Main tourist attractions and circuits
There are two main tourist attractions in the Bamiyan province:
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The Bamiyan Circuit
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Band-e-Amir
The Bamiyan Circuit
This is situated in and around Bamiyan centre and has the following main tourist attractions:
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Bamiyan Buddhas Historical
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Shahr-e-Gholghola Historical
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Chehel Sutun (Forty Pillars) Historical
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Shahr-e-Zohak (Red City) Historical
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Darra-e-Ashdar (Dragon Valley) Natural
Band-e-Amir
2.2.1.2Size and structure of the distribution channels (travel agents, tour operators, etc)
Afghan Tourist Organisation (ATO) which runs the Bamiyan Hotel in Bamiyan is the only formal distribution channel. It is a chain of hotels under the Ministry of Culture, Information, Youth and Tourism. ATO runs the Bamiyan Hotel, and provides no other services to tourists. The boarding and lodging services provided by ATO cater to the international visitors and are very poor by international standards. ATO has no facility for booking rooms in Bamiyan Hotel in any other city other than Bamiyan. Visitors have to make bookings through acquaintances in Bamiyan, or arrive in Bamiyan and then make the bookings.
There are no other formal distribution channels for Bamiyan. More than ninety percent (90 %) of the tourism is local and based on word of mouth. Foreign tourists are mostly members of the international development community. They stay with friends while in Bamiyan or make bookings through acquaintances in the local hotels.
Thus, there are no functional and effective distribution channels for tourism products in Bamiyan.
2.2.1.3Size and structure of the airline industry
Bamiyan is served by two airlines UN Humanitarian Air Services (UNHAS) and PACTEC, which between then offer services three days a week. UNHAS services are available only to people working for the ‘assistance community’. PACTEC services are available to people working for the assistance community and to others also. Flights primarily offer connectivity to Kabul. The flights are often hopping flights and may linkages to other places, but this is not a regular feature.
Bookings for PACTEC can only be made in Kabul, and the airline has no staff or infrastructure in Bamiyan. UNHAS has staff and infrastructure in Bamiyan and bookings can be made in Bamiyan too.
Operations of both UNHAS and PACTEC are subsidised by international donors, and they would continue to operate until subsidies are available. Traffic is often quite low, and the both airlines operate small aircrafts.
There are no airline services to other places of tourist interest in the province.
2.2.1.4Surface Transport
The easiest way to reach Bamiyan by road is from Kabul. There are two roads from Kabul, one comes via the Hajigak Pass, and is shorter about 170 Km. The other comes via the Shibber Pass and is longer around 240 Km. The Hajigak Pass route is not considered safe by the international assistance community, which uses the Shibber Pass route that is longer but safe.
During the winters, the Hajigak Pass route often gets snowed in, and is closed. The Shibber Pass also gets snowed in, but is cleared for traffic within a day or so. It takes on average five – six hours to reach Bamiyan from Kabul via the Hajigak Pass, and seven – eight hours via the Shibber Pass.
2.2.1.5Size and structure of the industry of hotels and other accommodation
The private sector is the major provider of hotels and accommodation and other services. Information on the current state of affairs is provided at Annex E.
2.2.1.6Structure of key activity service providers in tourism (such as horseback riding, guide tours, fishing, adventure activities)
Activity services are not well developed in the province. There are no properly trained guides in Bamiyan Central for the Buddha and the Shahr-e-Gholghola sites. The security guards at these sites act as informal guides and provide whatever information they have.
Band-e-Amir has a few activity service providers, the most popular of which are the paddle boats in the main lake Band-e-Haibat. A motorboat service is also available here for joyrides, but this has been declared illegal by the government and operates illegally.
There is considerable scope for adventure activities in the valleys and mountains, but there are no organised activity providers.
2.2.1.7Main tourist projects in the pipeline
A (number) room hotel is under construction in Bamiyan central. Another hotel is being planned by a French company in Band-e-Amir. The area under Band-e-Amir has been declared as a National Park, and the Asian Development Bank is funding the construction of a Ranger Station, a Ticket Counter, and () at Band-e-Amir.
2.2.1.8Summary of the main sources of comparative advantage: 2.2.1.8.1Cultural assets
The Bamiyan Cultural Landscape, part of the World Heritage Sites is the biggest source of visibility and comparative advantage for the province. They received even greater publicity when they were destroyed by the Taliban. For large sections of the world population, Afghanistan is identified with the Bamiyan Buddhas. Thus for foreigners, the must-see site in Afghanistan are the Bamiyan Buddhas.
The second source of competitive advantage is the incredible series of blue-water lakes at Band-e-Amir. This is a natural wonder, and UNESCO is currently considering its inclusion in the World Heritage Sites. Band-e-Amir attracts large numbers of national tourists, and is known all over Afghanistan for its beauty.
The combination of the Bamiyan Buddhas and Band-e-Amir gives the province an unbeatable combination of tourist sites that could attract large number of international and national tourists. The province would be the showpiece of the Afghanistan Tourism promotion, and has the must-see sites in Afghanistan for both international and national visitors.
2.2.1.8.2Natural assets
Bamiyan is rich in natural assets. The province, part of the Central Highlands region of Afghanistan has beautiful valleys, peaks, natural lakes, and natural caves. Other than the cultural sites of the Bamiyan Buddhas, the natural assets of the province have tremendous potential for attracting tourists. A detailed list of the natural sites with tourist potential is attached at Annex A.
2.2.1.8.3Labour assets
The province is poor in labour assets. The Hazarajat (the land of the Hazaras) of which Bamiyan is a part, has traditionally been a neglected area. The educational and other cultural facilities are poor, and the educational levels of the local population are rather poor. Educated Hazaras have received their education in other towns of Afghanistan, and rarely return to work here. The economy is predominantly agricultural, with hardly any services available. The service orientation of the existing service providers is poor.
There are local folk traditions of music here, but it is not very well-developed. There are occasional amateur practitioners of the Hazaragi music, who are never able to earn a living from music. The form has the potential to develop as a distinct form of Afghani music, but would need considerable strengthening before it can be offered as a sufficiently attractive tourist product.
Hazaragi the local dialect is a dialect of Dari and is somewhat different from the mainstream Dari spoken in Kabul and other major urban centres. Most of the population know no other language. Facilities for foreign language teaching are rare. An NGO - Women’s Development Centre, runs English classes for young women, otherwise there are no other proper facilities available.
There is a distinct tradition of Hazarajat handicrafts, but these are mostly for self-consumption. These have also been documented by a national NGO RAHA Cultural- Educational and Services Institute with Support of Ministry of Women's Affairs and JICA in 2004-2005). The handicraft industry in Afghanistan is in its infancy, and is slowly developing. The Hazarajat handicrafts lag behind the national (Kabul based?) handicraft industry in their commercial orientation. Nevertheless, since the skills are alive, the industry can pick up well, given the right financial incentives.
Overall, the labour assets in Bamiyan are rather poor, and would need to be considerably strengthened if Bamiyan has to develop its tourism potential.
2.2.1.8.4Low access cost
Access cost within the province is high in terms of both money and time, because of poor infrastructure. There are no metalled roads within the province, and consequently costs are high. Air travel to Afghanistan (Kabul is the only international airport), and from Kabul to Bamiyan is not cheap because of low traffic and security risks. The saving grace is that this problem of poor road and air infrastructure is suffered by most places within Afghanistan. Bamiyan being near to Kabul has the advantage of being able to attract short duration visitors also.
2.2.1.8.5Low labour cost
Labour costs within Bamiyan would be relatively low when compared to other places in Afghanistan. However, this is no advantage, as the quality of the labour is poor.
2.2.1.8.6Low land cost
Land cost is not low in the province. The security situation is very good, so investments are secure. However, the management of land records is not very good, and causes problems erratically. This is true for most of Afghanistan, but increases the cost for private sector investments.
2.2.1.9Current and potential tourist products where the province could be competitive -
Lakes, valleys, mountains
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Heritage and Culture
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Sport offerings (e.g. horseback riding, ice-skating, skiing, hang gliding)
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Adventure activities (trekking, mountain biking)
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Boating and canoeing
There are a range of potential tourist products where the province could be uniquely competitive. These are based on the natural assets (see Annex A), and infrastructure for other tourism, sports and adventure activities would have to be built around these. These potential products are in addition to the already renowned historical/ cultural assets in the Bamiyan circuit and the Band-e-Amir.
2.2.1.10Potential target markets:
International
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Young students
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Back packers
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Young professional bachelors
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Expatriates working for NGOs
National
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Travelling businessmen
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Local businessmen
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Families from Kabul, Heart and Mazar-e-Sharif
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Staff working for NGOs
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Young families
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Returning emigrants
2.2.1.11Promising Tourist Segments
The profile of the promising tourist segments would gradually change, evolve and mature as the tourism industry matures in the province. Presently, with the adverse security situation in Afghanistan, the promising tourist segments among the international tourists, are the young people not intimidated by the adverse reports in the international media. Nevertheless, as the security situation in Afghanistan improves, and the infrastructure in Bamiyan improves, this profile would undergo significant change. All this would however take time, and the projections and estimations are based only on a gradual change of the profile, with the young, backpackers and budget travellers forming the bulk of the clientele even ten years later.
Amongst the national tourists also, the bulk would be visitors for a day only, not even staying overnight. Facilities and activities for nationals have been estimated on this assumption.
2.2.2Demand
The present demand amongst the international tourists is only from staff employed in INGOs. This is presently very low. The hotel industry in Bamiyan sustains itself on visitors arriving for developmental activities rather than tourist arrivals.
There is no marketing of the tourist spots, and there has been no analysis of the potential international markets. Simultaneous to developing the tourism infrastructure and facilities, work would have to be done to analyse potential tourist markets, developing marketing strategies, tying up with tour operators, and all the associated activities.
Amongst the national tourists, the bulk of the demand is from families from Bamiyan, Kabul and other neighbouring provinces out on a picnic at the Band-e-Amir. While travelling to and fro Band-e-Amir, several make an overnight halt at Bamiyan, and the more curious amongst these make a visit to the Bamiyan Buddhas.
There are no marketing efforts for the national tourists also. However, primarily Band-e-Amir and the Buddhas have a reputation all over Afghanistan, and people come on their own. Even for the national tourists, market analysis, development of market strategies, and tying up with tourism service providers would have to be done.
2.2.3Institutional Analysis 2.2.3.1Departments involved and delineation of their roles
The governance structure in Afghanistan is that there are Central ministries in Kabul, which have their departments in the provinces. The departments in the provinces are controlled by the respective ministries in Kabul. Each province has a Governor, who is in-charge of the political and executive affairs in the province.
There is no exclusive ministry for tourism development in Afghanistan, and hence there is no department for tourism development in Bamiyan. Tourism forms part of the Ministry of Information and Culture. Thus there is no effective body for handling tourism development.
A range of departments affect tourism, starting from the Ministry of information and Culture, and including the Bamiyan municipality, etc. A detailed list of the departments affecting tourism in Bamiyan is provided at Annex C.
2.2.3.2Institutions for tourism development – their role and effectiveness
There are no existing institutions for tourism development in Afghanistan or in Bamiyan. Consequently, tourism development is nobody’s baby. The Ministry of Information and Culture would like to retain it within its own fold, expecting massive resources to flow into the industry. However, in its current activities tourism occupies a low priority. It continues to run the Bamiyan Hotel which it inherited as a legacy of the previous regimes. Otherwise, it has not done any activity at all for developing facilities or increasing the flow of tourists to Bamiyan.
An autonomous statutory body charged with facilitating tourism development, obtaining clearances for tourism projects, and marketing efforts would have to be created, if the tourism industry is to fulfil the expectations of being the engine of economic growth in the province.
2.2.3.3Existing Private Institutions – Business Associations/ Councils
There are no private institutions for the tourism sector. There is the Afghanistan Tourism Organisation (ATO) under the Ministry of Culture and Information that runs the Hotel Bamiyan. Other than this, the ATO has no other activities.
3Policy
3.1Vision – Ten Years
Tourism industry is the engine of economic growth in the province.
The vision for tourism development in Bamiyan is that ten years from now, the tourism industry would contribute 30% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Bamiyan. The sectoral distribution of the GDP would be:
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Agriculture 45%
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Tourism 30%
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Trade and Services 15%
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Mining 10%
It is estimated that there would be:
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International Arrivals 100,000/ annum
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National Arrivals 500,000/ annum
Tourism Incomes
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International Arrivals USD 78 m/ annum
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National Arrivals USD 26 m/ annum
Retention in the provincial economy (% of total incomes)
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International 40%
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National 25%
Employment Creation
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Direct Employment 7,200
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Indirect Employment 9,300
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Construction Industry 5,000
Activity Distribution (% of tourists)
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Nature 60%
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Culture 10%
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Sports/ Adventure 30%
Peak Tourist Season May – August
Arrival during Peak Tourist Season
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International 80%
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National 95%
The poor benefit from tourism development through:
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Jobs
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Enterprises
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Infrastructure
3.2Goals -
Economic Viability
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Local Prosperity
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Social Equity
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Visitor Fulfilment
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Community Wellbeing
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Cultural Richness
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Physical Integrity
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Resource Efficiency
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Environmental Purity
3.3Objectives -
Increasing the number of visitors
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Increasing income/ tourist – length of stay x money spent / tourist
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Retaining tourism incomes in the local economy
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Beneficial effects for the rest of the economy
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Preventing further damage and reversing damage to natural and cultural assets
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Reducing impacts on local culture
3.4Elements of the Policy
The Tourism Policy aims at:
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minimizing the negative impacts of tourism on
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society
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environment
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Bamiyan cultural landscape
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maximizing tourism’s positive and creative contribution to
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local economies,
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conservation of natural and cultural heritage,
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quality of life of hosts and visitors.
Pro-poor
The large majority of the population in Bamiyan is poor. This suggests that Tourism Development in Bamiyan should necessarily benefit the poor of the region through jobs, enterprise opportunities, and community development. Tourism that does not benefit the poor and the local population of Bamiyan, would not serve as the growth engine for the province, and would, in the long run engender animosity towards the tourism industry. Simultaneously, tourism development should be able to should add to the conservation of the historical, natural and cultural sites and traditions, while sustainably managing the environmental impacts.
3.5Investments 3.5.1Public/ Government Investments -
General Infrastructure – Roads, Airports, Electricity, Communications
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Training & Capacity Building
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Development of Tourist Sites
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Marketing and Promotion
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Development of detailed plans
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Regulation – ensuring that standards and rules are being followed
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Development of museums and interpretation centres
3.5.2Private Sector Investments -
Hotels
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Restaurants
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Development of Sports and Adventure infrastructure and sites
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Transportation Services
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Entertainment Services at Tourist Sites
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Handicraft Enterprises
3.6Investment Sources 3.6.1Government of Afghanistan and major donors 3.6.1.1General Infrastructure -
Roads
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Electricity
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Airports
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Communication
3.6.1.2Tourism Infrastructure – Public -
Development of Tourist Sites
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Development of museums and interpretation centres
3.6.1.3Tourism Planning, Rules and Regulations
Development of
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detailed plans (including land use)
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feasibility studies
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Rules and regulations for private sector, government and NGO agencies, and visitors
3.6.2Private Sector, multi-lateral finance institutions (IFC, ADB, WB), banks -
Hotels and Restaurants
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Sports and Infrastructure and facilities
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Transportation services
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Entertainment services
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Handicraft enterprises
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Banking and financial services
3.6.3NGOs and donors -
Training and Capacity Building
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Staff for Hotels and Restaurants
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Sports and Adventure activities
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Tourist guides
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Drivers and members of the transportation industry
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Entrepreneurs – shopkeepers, service providers, hawkers
3.7Strategy 3.7.1Creation of Statutory Body for Tourism Development
The provincial government would set up a statutory body to facilitate tourism development in the province. This would include, but would not be restricted to facilitating planning, clearances from the different ministries, private sector investments, marketing, co-ordination with and between different government departments and private industry associations.
3.7.2Facilitating Government Investments
The government is working and would continue to work on attracting government investments for the creation of general infrastructure – roads, airports, electricity, communications, etc. Considerable progress has already been made in this area, and this would accelerate in the coming times.
The government would make efforts to develop the public infrastructure at tourist sites. A priority list of the sites to be taken up for development has already been developed (Annex D). Detailed plans would be developed, and simultaneously resources would be raised for site development.
The government would make efforts to develop rules and regulations for the tourism industry and the visitors. These would include, but would not be restricted to land-use planning, environmental effects, waste disposal, maintaining and enhancing social and community equity and well-being, conservation of natural and cultural heritage, enhancing the local economy, etc.
The government would make efforts to create public infrastructure to enhance the experience of the tourists. This would include the creation of a museum in Bamiyan, and interpretation centres at Bamiyan, Band-e-Amir and other natural sites.
3.7.3Private Sector Investments
The government would make efforts to attract private sector investments for the development hotels, restaurants, development of sports and adventure tourism infrastructure and facilities. This is envisaged to be a problem at least in the short run. Few investors would like to invest in Bamiyan, given the uncertain security situation in Afghanistan, the poor infrastructure in the province, and the general lack of policy, guidelines, rules and regulations, co-ordination between the different ministries/ departments and in general the absence of an investor-friendly environment.
The government would, with the help of multi-lateral financial institutions like the Asian Development Bank, which has evinced keen interest in the development of the tourism sector, set up special finance fund for the private sector. This would be administered by a bank and would be available for viable private sector projects at very soft rates.
This special finance fund would be one of the principal instruments of the government, for achieving its objectives of a ‘pro-poor tourism development policy’. Funds at soft rates would only be available to investors who agree to hire staff from local communities, develop vendors from local communities, and share facilities and/ or profits with local communities. The special finance fund would thus serve a dual purpose – it would attract private sector involvement, and at the same time create conditions for the private sector to create local jobs and local enterprises.
This special finance fund would be modelled on the successful South African experience. A range of financing options and products to promote pro-poor and responsible tourism would be developed.
3.8Achieving pro-poor and sustainable tourism development
Four major instruments would be used to achieve the objectives of pro-poor and sustainable tourism development:
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Special finance mechanisms
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Special concessions and leases at sites
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Capacity building of local communities for jobs and enterprises
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Development of appropriate rules and regulations
The special finance mechanisms have already been talked about in the preceding paragraphs.
The government also proposes to use the instrument of granting special concessions and leases to entrepreneurs who fulfil conditions for creating local jobs and procurement from local communities.
The government proposes to facilitate intensive capacity building of local populations so that they can positively contribute to the development of the tourism industry in the province. The government has already facilitated the setting up of a Programme for Professional Development by the Aga Khan Foundation, Bamiyan. This programme could be developed for the intensive capacity building of local people for the tourism industry.
The government would seek international support to develop appropriate rules and regulations, based on international best practices, for environmental conservation, and the conservation of the cultural, historical and natural heritage of the province.
3.9Marketing
The statutory body to be created by the government would play the lead role in all marketing activities. All the marketing efforts would be undertaken with the consultation of or with the partnership of private sector industry associations. Assistance of international tourism development organisations would be sought.
Marketing activities would include market research, promotion, tie-ups with tour operators, etc.
4Implementing Partners and their roles
The government takes the responsibility for facilitating investments of all types – a) for public infrastructure, private investments, and for capacity building. It is responsible for the development of appropriate rules and regulations for public and private agencies and individuals. The government would develop appropriate land-use plans, and mechanisms for using concessions and leases for the achievement of pro-poor and sustainable tourism development. The government would set up a statutory body to facilitate tourism development and marketing.
The private sector would be responsible for setting up hotels, restaurants, sports and adventure infrastructure and facilities. It has the responsibility for successfully and responsibly running the enterprises, and generating profits for itself and the community. It has the responsibility for job creation, and for local procurement.
The NGOs would be responsible for capacity building of local populations, and for facilitating partnerships between the private sector and local communities for mutual advantage.
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