August 15 2024 marks the 3 year anniversary of Taliban control in Afghanistan – since then tourism in Afghanistan has increased. In August 2021, the world watched as the Taliban swiftly took city by city, village by village, from fringe areas to the capital city Kabul.
Over the past three years there has been changes to society and laws in Afghanistan. The Taliban brought with it a ‘new age’ version of their former rule – with iPhones in hand and promises of an amended rule.
Most famously, the Taliban have restricted girls education to just primary school and have banned women from working in public sector jobs such as in the government, although women may still be employed in the private sector and some women specific jobs, such as in some areas of healthcare and in security in places such as hotels and airports.
The Taliban takeover raised many question marks about the future of Afghanistan – so where is Afghanistan at three years later?
What is Afghanistan like now?
In 2024 there has been a fresh wave of tourism in Afghanistan reported by the Taliban. When traveling to Afghanistan, you are likely to hear comments along the lines of ‘Afghanistan is now safe’. Is this true?
While conflict still occurs in the country, they are mostly isolated pockets of violence. ISIS still has an extremely limited presence within the country and the damage caused in Afghanistan caused by civil conflict and occupation such as drone strikes, suicide bombers and mass shootings have been significantly reduced.
Due to international sanctions, economic growth in the country is limited.
While many locals encourage tourism in Afghanistan and are ecstatic to see tourism return as it provides a sense of normality, there are some precautions to take.
Security precautions for travel to Afghanistan
Firstly, in a country with only a couple of thousand foreign tourists visiting every year, it is super easy to stick out. Wearing western clothes can make you identifiable in a large market or crowd. While Afghanis are extremely ethnically diverse and thus have many different facial features and looks, foreign tourists can be more easily distinguishable.
It is required on our tours to wear local clothing in order to better fit in. This includes plain coloured abayas for women, mandatory hijab and local clothing for men. The more invisible you become, the less curiosity and crowding!
It is highly recommended to have a local guide with you throughout your time in Afghanistan for practical reasons such as navigation, language and for information, as well as safety reasons as local guides may spot things that you do not and are more culturally aware.
It is also highly recommended (and compulsory on a YPT tour) that you do not do any active posting on social media throughout the duration of your travels. Whether you have 100 followers or 100,000 it is important to keep your live movements off social media until you have departed from Afghanistan.
Is it ethical to participate in tourism in Afghanistan?
Whether you feel comfortable traveling to Afghanistan or not is completely up to you. At YPT we believe it is important to not forget the approximately 40 million Afghanis living in Afghanistan despite the country returning to a less televised status.
A young woman from Kabul put it this way in a private conversation regarding her opinions on tourism in Afghanistan: “Travel is for having the experience of new things exploring cultures, lifestyles, and knowing the situation through ones eyes… I do believe foreigners must make a plan of traveling to Afghanistan not because Afghanistan is the country of splendid suns, but also because off the rich culture, nature, beauty and the kind people we have”
How to travel to Afghanistan
Tourism in Afghanistan can be a tricky country to navigate – we recommend traveling with a tour agency who knows their way around the country! YPT have resumed tours in Afghanistan since 2021 and we run many tours throughout the year, including a women’s only tour to the country. You can check out the tours we offer here.
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