US EditionFrom North Korea to Afghanistan: Leading International Tourists Down the Path Less Travelled
AFGHANISTAN, JUL 9 – The video aims to attract tourists despite U.S. warnings, with Afghan tourist numbers rising from 691 in 2021 to 7,000 in 2023 under Taliban rule.
- A Taliban-linked tourism video released in mid-2025 blends scenic Afghan landscapes with armed militants, inviting Americans to visit Afghanistan.
- The video emerges amid ongoing Taliban efforts to rebrand Afghanistan since their August 2021 return to power and the 2022 U.S. withdrawal.
- The video features scenes of tourists dining and exploring, but also hooded captives and militants holding U.S.-sourced weapons, provoking global outrage.
- Nearly 9,000 foreign tourists visited in 2024, with 3,000 arriving in early 2025, yet Western governments maintain strict travel warnings due to terrorism and kidnapping.
- The campaign highlights Taliban desires to boost tourism revenues but faces strong criticism as security risks and severe restrictions on women persist.
15 Articles
15 Articles
From North Korea to Afghanistan: Leading international tourists down the path less travelled
North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un is trying to claim his country's stake in the multibillion-dollar global tourism industry by opening a brand-new beach resort. But not many foreign tourists will be able to take advantage of the new facilities, as the country has mostly been closed to visitors since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Charles Pellegrin speaks to Simon Cockerell, the general manager of Koryo Tours, a company that has bee…
With the aesthetics of a combatant but without being a member of the regime, a young Afghan content creator has become a viral phenomenon because of his satirical videos promoting Afghanistan, a controversial marketing strategy whose ambiguity has been amplified on social networks.In his most viral video, the young man appears crouched in the desert behind a supposed tourist kneeling, with one hand on the shoulder of the "rehén", makes a gesture…
Taliban launches Afghan TOURISM campaign with sick 'execution' vid
AFGHANISTAN has launched a bizarre video campaign to attract tourists – including a chilling hostage video. The slick professionally produced video starts with footage of a hooded man surrounded by armed men in an ISIS-style execution. The video begins with what initially resembles a heinous execution videoInstagram / @afghanarabc But when the bag is lifted, a man is smiling with his thumbs-up and says in an American accent ‘welcome to Afrghanis…
In the video published by the European digital media Nexta, he shows a group of Afghans joking about the country's reputation as a recognized terrorist nation, and encouraging American citizens to consider it a holiday destination.
Bizarre! Taliban’s tourism promotion video with rifles, fake hostage goes viral; netizens call it ‘darkly ironic’
The clip attempts to rebrand Afghanistan's image but has been criticised as bizarre and disturbing, blending scenic landscapes with graphic violence, reflecting the Taliban's struggle to reshape perceptions since their return to power.
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