The most recent was a group of 14 people from Europe. They said they were excited to visit Afghanistan and hoped to see other provinces. They said Herat’s historical sites were of particular interest.

 

“Afghanistan is really a wonderful country, I really like the people of this country and each of them is very kind, we see excitement on the roads and life is going on. We have already visited Bamiyan, Mazar-e-Sharif and Kabul,” said Andrea, a Serbian.

 

“I have heard many things about Afghanistan, especially about the nature, culture and people of this country, but I search a lot to know more about Afghanistan, here in Herat I have the Grand Mosque, I saw this historical castle and the traditional tile making industry and I am very excited to see the remaining parts of this city as well,” said Yavana, another Serbian.

 

Local officials say tourism is on the rise in the country, by both domestic and foreign tourists.

 

“Over the last three months, there have been 4,102 tourists, including domestic and foreign tourists, of which 159 were foreign tourists who came from different countries to Herat,” said Rahmatullah Mohammadi, head of tourism in Herat.

 

The Citadel of Herat or Qal’a-ye Ikhtiyar al-Din, Herat’s Grand Mosque, traditional tile making industry and dozens of other places of interest are the main attractions in Herat.

 

“We are fortunate that we had tourists from neighboring countries and Europe, Asia and America who visited different areas. You saw that even from Serbia, Slovenia, Austria, Croatia and some other countries,” said Abdul Jabar Noorzai, General Manager of Herat Museum.

 

In Herat, there are more than 700 historical sites, in addition traditional industries found throughout the city – which are key drawcards among foreign visitors.

 

Domestic tourism to Nangarhar has meanwhile also increased substantially as people flock to the historic palace of Siraj Al-Amart in Jalalabad.

 

Visitors have described this palace as a good place for recreation and tourism, but say the authorities need to complete the work on a museum in the gardens as soon as possible so as to attract more tourists.

 

The gardens, which have a long history, have attracted the attention of tourists from different provinces of the country.

 

Nangarhar Department of Information and Culture officials say that almost 80 percent of work on the museum has been completed and that it will open soon.

 

The palace is an ancient structure that was built during the reign of Shah Amanullah Khan. It has great cultural and historical significance for the people of Afghanistan.