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. Here is what that advice actually means for anyone in Belgium tempted by the adventure — how to read the official reisadvies, why your insurance and consular safety net largely disappear at the border, and the practical realities, especially for women, of a country under Taliban rule.
For anyone in Belgium weighing the Taliban's 'come visit' messaging, the practical stakes are concrete: an official negative travel advice typically voids travel insurance, and with no Belgian embassy in Kabul there is essentially no consular safety net if you are detained, robbed, injured or need evacuation. Reading the official reisadvies rather than a viral video is the difference between an informed decision and an uninsured, unsupported gamble — and for women the Taliban's rules directly govern freedom of movement.
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.
Opposing perspectives
- Taliban government and Afghan tourism promoters
The Taliban authorities and the tour operators working with them argue that Afghanistan is now unified and calmer than during the two decades of war, that visitors are welcomed with famous hospitality, and that tourism can bring desperately needed revenue and a more normal international standing. They point to travellers who have visited Bamiyan and Band-e-Amir and returned unharmed as evidence the country is open and safe for adventurous guests.
- FOD Buitenlandse Zaken (Belgian Foreign Affairs)
Belgium's federal foreign ministry counters that promotional messaging cannot substitute for a genuine security assessment. It maintains an advice against all travel, citing risks of kidnapping, detention, terrorism including ISIS-Khorasan attacks on foreigners, and unexploded ordnance — and stresses that with no embassy in Kabul, Belgium cannot realistically assist citizens who get into trouble inside the country.
- Women's-rights and human-rights organisations
Human-rights groups reject the 'open and safe' framing outright, arguing it whitewashes a system in which women are barred from much of public life, required to travel with a male guardian, and restricted in dress and movement. They contend that tourism promotion lends legitimacy to a government systematically stripping half the population of basic freedoms, and that any 'safety' on offer is conditional and unequal.
Sources & evidence
- View sourceHet Nieuwsblad — Nu de taliban toerisme promoten, duwt België op de remPrimary· nieuwsblad.beRetrieved 18 July 2026
- View sourceFOD Buitenlandse Zaken — Reisadvies Afghanistan (diplomatie.belgium.be)· diplomatie.belgium.beRetrieved 18 July 2026
- View sourceFOD Buitenlandse Zaken — TravellersOnline registration· travellersonline.diplomatie.beRetrieved 18 July 2026
