DUSHANBE, October 13, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- 11,000 tourists from 58 countries have visited Tajikistan over the first nine months of this year, which is 10 percent more than in the same period of last year, Lochin Fayzulloyev, the deputy head of the Committee for Youth, Sports and Tourism Affairs, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, 15 new tourist companies have been granted operating licenses over the report period.

In all, 145 tourist companies now operate in Tajikistan and some 90 percent of them are developing tourism inside the country, Fayzulloyev said.