Tourism in Afghanistan is regulated by the Ministry of Information and Culture. There are at least 350 tourism companies operating in Afghanistan.[1] Tourism was at its peak before the 1978 Saur Revolution, which was followed by the decades of warfare.[2] Between 2013 and 2016, Afghan embassies issued between 15,000 and 20,000 tourist visas annually.[3][4] Following Taliban's return to power in August 2021, visitor numbers gradually increased from 691 in 2021 to 2,300 in 2022, reaching 7,000 in 2023.[5]
Afghanistan has four international airports, which include Kabul International Airport, Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport, the Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport in Kandahar, and Herat International Airport. It also has a number of smaller domestic airports such as Bamyan Airport, Bost Airport, Chaghcharan Airport, Farah Airport, Fayzabad Airport, Ghazni Airport, Jalalabad Airport, Khost Airport, Kunduz Airport, Maymana Airport, Nili Airport, Tarinkot Airport, and Zaranj Airport.
Guest houses and hotels are found in every city of Afghanistan. Some of the major hotels in Kabul are the Serena Hotel, the Hotel Inter-Continental Kabul, and the Safi Landmark Hotel. Most places in the country serve traditional Afghan cuisine.
- ^ "350 new tourism companies granted license last year". Pajhwok Afghan News. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ Williams, Jessie (9 February 2022). "What now for Afghanistan's tour guides?". The Times. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ^ Navid Ahmad Barakzai, ed. (September 27, 2016). "20,000 foreign tourists visit Afghanistan annually". Pajhwok Afghan News. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
- ^ Nordland, Rod (12 January 2013). "Despite Taliban Threat, Afghanistan Manages to Entice Some Tourists". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ^ Akbarzai, Sahar (2024-08-22). "The Taliban says it wants tourists in Afghanistan. Here's what it's like to visit right now". CNN. Retrieved 2024-08-22.