Afghanistan is courting tourists again — so why does Belgium still say don't go?
The Taliban government is actively promoting Afghanistan as a tourist destination, but Belgium's federal foreign ministry has not softened its warning: travel there remains, in its words, extremely dangerous.
In 30 seconds
- Belgium's FOD Buitenlandse Zaken maintains a negative travel advice (negatief reisadvies) advising against all travel to Afghanistan, calling it extremely dangerous.
- Belgium closed its embassy in Kabul in August 2021 and has not reopened it, leaving minimal consular capacity inside the country.
- A negative travel advice typically voids Belgian and European travel insurance policies for the destination.
- The Taliban government has begun actively promoting Afghanistan as a tourist destination to Western travellers.
The Taliban administration governing Afghanistan since August 2021 has begun promoting the country as a tourist destination through videos and outreach aimed at Western adventure travellers. In response — and unchanged by that campaign — Belgium's federal foreign ministry, the FOD Buitenlandse Zaken (SPF Affaires étrangères), maintains a negative travel advice (negatief reisadvies) urging against all travel to Afghanistan, describing it as extremely dangerous. Belgium closed its embassy in Kabul in 2021 and has minimal capacity to assist citizens on the ground. Key entities: the Taliban government; FOD Buitenlandse Zaken / diplomatie.belgium.be; the TravellersOnline registration system; ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) as a security threat; human-rights organisations documenting restrictions on women.
Background
Belgium, like most Western states, evacuated its diplomatic staff and closed its Kabul embassy when the Taliban seized the capital in August 2021, ending twenty years of Western-backed government. Since then Afghanistan has sat under blanket 'do not travel' advisories across the EU. The current tourism push represents the Taliban's attempt to normalise its rule and generate revenue and legitimacy, even as most governments continue to withhold formal recognition and maintain the strongest possible travel warnings.
What to do
Before considering travel, read the full reisadvies on diplomatie.belgium.be and note its update date; assume a negative advice voids your travel insurance and confirm your policy wording; register any high-risk trip on TravellersOnline while understanding it is not protection; recognise there is no Belgian embassy in Kabul to help; and if it is the landscapes you want, weigh far safer Central Asian alternatives that carry no all-country do-not-travel warning.
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- 18 Jul 2026
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- 18 Jul 2026
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- 18 Jul 2026
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This story was assembled from verified evidence, with its sources and reasoning recorded as it was written.