Taliban's quest for tourists to see the wonders of Afghanistan

Holidaying in a country torn apart by warfare and ruled by fundamentalists won't be top of everyone's bucket list but the number of foreign tourists visiting Afghanistan rose 120% in 2023, reaching nearly 5,200.

Travel officials want Afghanistan to become a "tourism powerhouse", said AP, an ambition backed by the Taliban's top leaders, who assured The Times that "attention has been paid to peace and order in the areas where tourists go."

But why are visitors returning to Afghanistan and how safe is it?

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'Bragging rights'

During the 1960s and 1970s, Afghanistan was part of the overland "hippy trail" route across Asia, with "hundreds of thousands of Western tourists" passing through, said Sky News, although as its "complicated modern history unfolded", the "steady stream of travellers stopped". But now, foreigners are visiting the country again, encouraged by the "sharp drop in violence", increased flight connections with hubs like Dubai, and the "bragging rights that come with vacationing in an unusual destination", said AP. Although the numbers aren't huge, they "never were" and there's still "a buzz around Afghan tourism".

The visitor revival is thanks to efforts by the nation's tourist officials, who are working hard to overcome numerous obstacles. There are problems with the road network, which is "half-paved or non-existent in some parts of the country", said the outlet, and the fact that airlines "largely avoid Afghan airspace".

"Decades of conflict" have made tourists in Afghanistan "extremely rare" in recent times, said Al Jazeera, and although most violence has now abated, visitors are "still confronted with extreme poverty, dilapidated cultural sites" and "scant hospitality infrastructure".

Tourists who visit will "holiday under the austere control of the Taliban authorities", without consular support, and they must also comply with a strict dress code and submit to searches at checkpoints.

The Taliban has an infamous track record of oppressing women and has even banned women from a national park, ruling that "going sightseeing is not a must for women". Untamed Borders, which runs mixed-gender tours to Afghanistan, told Sky News that although women travellers can "spend time with women in homes", there "are other things that women are not allowed to do and certain places they're not allowed to visit".

Stefanie Meier, a 53-year-old US citizen who spent a month travelling from Kabul to Kandahar via Bamiyan and Herat in the west, told Al Jazeera she did not face any issues as a woman on her own.

The country's only five-star hotel, the Serena, has reopened its women's spa and salon for foreign females after a closure of several months, but foreigners must show their passport to access services and women with "born in Afghanistan" on their ID are barred.

The biggest foreign-visitor market is China, thanks to its proximity and large population. Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan are both "attempting to convince Beijing" that their countries are "safe enough and stable enough to be part of, or remain part of, its global infrastructure embrace", said The Times.

'Unique experiences'

Although the UK Foreign Office currently advises against all travel to Afghanistan, highlighting its "volatile" security situation and an "ongoing and high threat of terrorist attacks", some "adventurous tourists aren't letting this stop them", said Sky News.

There are hoops to jump through. Just a "handful" of embassies around the world are able to issue visas and at all but one, you must apply in person, said Sky News. You will need specialist insurance, as regular providers do not cover travel to countries on the Foreign Office's red list.

"Unique sights, history and cultural experiences await" those willing to take the risk, said the broadcaster. Tourists can visit Bamiyan, an ancient route between India and China, the famous minaret of Jam, the cities of Herat, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif, and the site where two gigantic sixth-century Buddhas stood until the Taliban destroyed them in 2001.