A group of mustached, armed men stand behind three people kneeling, wearing black hoods. America, we have a message for you, they say, facing the camera. One of them leans threateningly and pulls the hood off one of the kneeling individuals. A young Western man with a bright smile appears. And he says, smiling at the camera: Welcome to Afghanistan!
This surreal scene was posted by a man who calls himself Jake, who traveled to Afghanistan and shares videos of his experiences there. And he is not the only one. His video went viral (along with several others, by both male and female influencers) on social media.
Afghan women are invisible (even to influencers)
As 2025 nears its end, social media is flooded with travel influencers promoting Afghanistan as an emerging tourist destination, often ignoring or deliberately concealing the harsh reality of the Taliban regime for women. Womens rights are systematically violated: exclusion from secondary and higher education, bans on working in many sectors, restrictions on movement without a male companion, and prohibition from being in public spaces Afghan women are almost invisible in Afghan society.
At the same time, since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the number of tourists in the country has increased. While critics, activists, and journalists face danger under the regime, foreign visitors can, for the first time in decades, travel to places that were previously inaccessible due to wars.
Cultural wealth and systematic oppression
Last year we had 8,000 foreign tourists in the country, says the spokesperson of the Ministry of Information and Culture in Kabul, Kari Chubaib Rufran. This year, just in the first half, 7,000 foreign tourists arrived. Many of them come from Western countries.
While the Taliban provoke international outrage through the systematic oppression and restriction of womens rights, they hope that tourism will help polish their image globally. The world needs to see that the country is safe, emphasizes Rufran.
In 2001, the world watched in shock as the Taliban blew up the Buddha statues in the Bamiyan Valley in central Afghanistan. But now, they have decided to showcase the countrys ancient culture to attract tourists. Buddhism is an important part of Afghanistans history, as noted on a sign at the National Museum in Kabul. However, a museum employee who wishes to remain anonymous told the German news agency dpa that the Taliban have removed a large part of the permanent exhibition on the pre-Islamic cultural heritage.
A destination for the experienced
Afghanistan is not a tourist destination for beginners, notes a tourist from Bulgaria, who, although troubled by the position of women in Afghan society, is impressed by the countrys cultural wealth.
And while women in Afghanistan have been displaced from many professions, Zoe Stevens from Liverpool guides foreign female tourists in the country and collaborates with local female guides. Former student Nilofar Rahimi from Kabul also wants to work as a guide and organize trips for women. Since Afghan women cannot travel without a male relative accompanying them, this work carries risks. Yet she does not give up: I cannot sit at home and do nothing, she says. She wants to show foreign visitors, alongside the countrys cultural wealth, the real aspects of womens lives there. I want to show them that we Afghan women also want to do more with our lives.
Sources: The New Yorker, dpa, Spiegel
Chrysa Vachtsevanou
