Rusi’s Orzala says influencers with Western passports “wander around, take photos and gain online fame,” but these privileges are rejected by Afghan women walking freely in school, work, and even public places without accompanying male parents.
She added that there are moral and ethical dilemmas. This is because the benefits from tourism risks indirectly legalize and maintain the government that institutionalized “gender apartheid” and financially.
“This should never be satisfying or agreeing with the current reality,” Orzara said of the influencer’s video showing Afghan women smiling in the background.
“This is not a cultural exchange. It is a neo-colonial tourism decorated as an adventure,” she added.
Visitors to Afghanistan are still in the thousands as the war-torn country is trying to reconstruct its image under Islamic laws and customs run by the strict Taliban. According to a report from the Associated Press, around 9,000 foreigners visited in 2024, and around 3,000 people visited in the first three months of the year.
In addition to travel influencers, some tourism companies are creating amazing videos re-shared by Taliban accounts on social media to attract more visitors.
One strange 50-second video, made by Vlogger Yosaf Aryubi, begins with a creepy scene of three people holding a bag over their heads.
“There’s one message in America,” one of the armed men said, giving a thumbs up before pulling out the bag from one of the hostages, “Welcome to Afghanistan!”
The video then shows male tourists jumping into the scenic lake, walking through the waterfall, and even carrying an M4 rifle that has been revealed to be a replica.
Not all influencers see Afghanistan that way. In another video, YouTuber Nolan Saumure, who has 650,000 subscribers on the tour’s channel seal, admits that he only interacted with men during the trip.
In a 35-minute video titled “Too much testosterone in Afghanistan,” Somuir spins the camera to show a large group of Afghan men huddled him.
“It’s a complete sausage fest here,” he says.
