The Afghan travel agency surprised the world with provocative advertising, inviting foreigners to visit the country.
Videos that appeared on social networks caused an ambiguous reaction of users. In one of them, two men in black bags on their heads and with tied hands appear on the screen, like hostages. Above them are armed “abductors”, requiring $ 5 billion in bitcoins for the return of “Italian citizens”.
However, the video suddenly abruptly changes the tone: the “kidnappers” break the bags from their heads, and it turns out that “victims” are smiling tourists. They welcome the audience with his thumbs raised up, inviting everyone to Afghanistan. Then the video show how guests communicate with local residents, play with children, take pictures and try on national clothes in the bazaar.
لماذا طimes الشlfأالأاوices خ how inct دول bul إطلاق iodق ولاح الإmpinc؟ #ت Post pic.twitter.com/9rx2hhs95z
– ” July 12, 2025
This and other similar videos are placed on the X and in the accounts associated with the Taliban movement. A similar plot was also removed with “American hostages”, which eventually turn into tourists enjoying Afghan landscapes. The authors of the video also insert scenes with the inspection of American weapons and the tasting of watermelons.
Nevertheless, such videos of many caused unpleasant associations with tragic cases of hostage executions, as it was with reporters Daniel Perl in 2002 and James Fouley in 2014.
The reaction in social networks was mixed: someone praised an unusual marketing move, others criticized the absence of women in the frame and reminded of human rights violations in the country. The founder of the agency Yosaf Aryubi, living between the United States and Kabul, insists that his goal was to destroy stereotypes and emphasizes that he was not connected with the government.
According to him, the media and the film industry formed the image of Afghanistan as a gloomy and dangerous country, and now he wants to show the other side of his homeland.
After the seizure of power by the Taliban in 2021, Afghanistan was in international isolation, which aggravated the economic situation. Most of the population lives in poverty, and the country is trying to attract foreign investments and develop tourism.
Last year, Afghanistan received about 9,000 foreign tourists, and only in the first three months of this year – already 3,000, according to the Ministry of Tourism. Deputy Minister Kudratulla Jamal emphasizes that tourism is able to benefit the country, and the Afghans are ready to receive guests with pleasure.
However, security issues remain relevant. In May 2024, ISIS militants killed six people, among whom were three Spanish tourists. There are also cases of the arrest of foreigners – including a British couple engaged in educational projects, and American George Glesmann, who spent more than two years in an Afghan prison before his release in March.
Thus, despite the efforts to show the country hospitable and attractive, Afghanistan is still a complex and unsafe direction for tourists.
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