Exclusive: Jess Davis had been exploring Afghanistan, a region under Taliban control, for a fortnight when she received a call from her mother back in Melbourne, confronting her about a fib.

“I had misled them about my travel destination,” she confessed to 9news.com.au.

Davis had her reasons for the deception, and her family’s concern was equally justified.

She is part of a growing cohort of Western tourists drawn to the Central Asian country, despite the looming threats of terrorism, abductions, and random arrests.

Australia advises against travel to the area, with Smartraveller clearly stating that “no location in Afghanistan can be considered safe.”

There are no Australian officials or consular support in Afghanistan, and airports, flights and telecommunications can be disrupted without notice.

Despite this, tourism to Afghanistan is on the rise.

Fewer than 700 tourists visited in 2021, the year the Taliban took over, but that figure rose to more than 9000 last year, according to officials.

While most Australian travel companies don’t promote travel to Afghanistan, Flight Centre Travel Group global leisure chief executive James Kavanagh said some Aussies won’t be deterred.

“We do receive the occasional request and book a very small number of trips each year for those determined to go,” he said.

Some are travel influencers, many of whom have been accused of “romanticising” Afghanistan and downplaying potential dangers for views or sponsorships.

But many more are adventure travellers like Davis, who decided to visit after befriending Afghan refugees while travelling in Pakistan.

She said getting a visa was easy and that she never felt unsafe, as tourists like herself “basically have the safety guarantee of the Taliban”.

“They want tourism, it looks good for improving their international image,” she said.

“They do not want anything bad to happen to you. It doesn’t look good for them.”

Tahera Nassrat, founder and chief executive of the Afghan Peace Foundation, said that’s exactly why the sudden spike in Western tourism to her home nation is a problem.

“Travelling to Afghanistan under the current regime risks normalising and legitimising a government that has been widely condemned for its ongoing human rights abuses,” Nassrat said.

“And the idea that it’s somehow a ‘safe’ place for tourism, especially for outsiders, is simply not accurate.”

Since the Taliban took power in 2021, many Afghan citizens have faced economic instability, fear of violence, and human rights violations under authoritarian rule.

Women and girls have become victims of what many have called a “gender apartheid”, banned from receiving an education, holding most jobs, and even speaking in public.

But those profound ethical, political, and humanitarian concerns are rarely highlighted in Western tourists’ curated social media posts.

Instead, their experiences and content may become part of the Taliban propaganda machine, the money they spend may end up in the pockets of Taliban authorities, and they could be subject to surveillance, intimidation, or exploitation.

That’s especially true for women.

Though female tourists are afforded countless privileges and freedoms that have been stripped from Afghan women and girls, Nassrat said they’re not truly safe in Afghanistan.

Davis admitted that while she never felt unsafe, being the only woman in most public places made her “uncomfortable”.

As did hearing the experiences of Afghan women she met, like a young guide who said the only ways Afghan women can make money is through “sewing or sex work”.

All of her friends had fled the country and she was considering doing the same.

”It’s hard when I go [to Afghanistan], have a really great time and get treated well, but then I get to leave and they can’t,” Davis confessed.

Since returning home to Melbourne, she’s been trying to spread awareness about the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan.

She shared a social media post about the issue, and mentioned fundraising efforts and supporting humanitarian organisations in her conversation with 9news.com.au.

But Nassrat said real solidarity with Afghan women comes by choosing not to participate in a system that oppresses them.

Instead, she called on Westerners to advocate from afar, amplify Afghan voices, support refugee and aid organisations, and resist the normalisation of “a regime that has rendered millions of women invisible”.

Davis said she wants her travels, which she shared on her personal Instagram account, to help dismantle negative stereotypes about Afghanistan and its people.

She rejected any suggestion that she or other tourists endorse or support the Taliban by visiting.

“Afghanistan’s obviously politically tricky, but I think it’s important to separate people living their everyday life from the government,” she said.

“You can’t help everyone, the best you can do as a tourist is bring some attention to their stories.”

But Afghan refugees and members of the Afghan diaspora around the world have been working to bring attention to their lived experiences and those of the friends and family they had to leave behind for years.

“For Afghan refugees in Australia, many of whom carry the trauma of war, displacement, and family separation, watching foreign tourists walk freely through cities they were forced to flee can be profoundly painful,” she said.

While Westerners certainly play an important role in amplifying Afghan voices and supporting humanitarian efforts, tourists promoting Afghanistan as a holiday destination are likely to do more harm than good.

Especially because what tourists see and experience is controlled by the Taliban to tell the story that suits the regime.

“Well-meaning tourists may unintentionally become tools of propaganda, helping to sanitise the image of a regime that continues to commit serious human rights abuses,” Nassrat said.

“While genuine curiosity about Afghanistan’s culture and people is understandable, the current surge in tourism — particularly under the guise of ‘changing perceptions’ — has more harmful than helpful consequences.”

So is there any way to engage in ethical tourism to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan?

Nassrat said no, but Davis had a different perspective.

She argued that when so many Australians have been raised on images of Afghanistan as a war zone, ethical tourism that centres the lived experiences of Afghan citizens and acknowledges the privileges afforded to Western tourists can have a positive impact.

“I know a few people who’ve just gone to make YouTube videos shooting guns with the Taliban and I think that is the complete wrong way to do tourism there,” she said.

“But most people I met are going to bring some awareness and I think in that regard, it’s, it’s good.

“Nothing can change if people don’t know about it.”