For decades, the name Somalia has been used as shorthand for conflict, piracy and danger. Relatively few Westerners have visited the country since the country’s civil war began in the 1990s. However, contrary to expectations, the East African country is currently experiencing a quiet increase in foreign tourists.
According to Somalia’s Ministry of Tourism, approximately 10,000 tourists will visit Somalia in 2024, an increase of 50% from the previous year. This is despite most Western governments still advising against all travel.
James Wilcox, founder of adventure tour company Untamed Borders, told CNN Travel that demand is growing rapidly. His company organized a record 13 group trips to Mogadishu this year, compared to just two in 2023.
On September 1, 2025, Somalia launched a new e-visa system aimed at simplifying entry procedures and increasing visitor numbers. But optimism about the program is undermined by divisions within the country. Somaliland and Puntland have both said they will not accept new visas, underscoring the limits of central authority even as Somalia strives for stability.
“Mogadishu is dangerous. You feel it as soon as you land,” said Karin Siniger, a Swiss tourist who visited in 2020. “You have to sleep within a secure perimeter, the ‘green zone.'” There were bombings there, too. ”
She told CNN Travel that leaving the area would mean traveling in an armed convoy with police and military escort. “Still, I felt safe walking on the beach,” she added.
Somalia maintains a reputation as one of the world’s most dangerous destinations. The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has warned of a “high risk of kidnapping”. The US State Department has classified Somalia as a Level 4 Do Not Travel list due to “crime, terrorism, civil unrest, health, kidnapping, piracy, and lack of regular consular services.”
These warnings are far from theoretical. Al-Shabaab militants remain active across Somalia, including Mogadishu, where they carried out several deadly attacks in early 2025.
So why would anyone want to travel there?
For Siniger, the trip was part of a personal challenge to visit all 193 countries recognized by the United Nations and scuba dive in each one. When her equipment was lost in transit, a local lobster diver at Mogadishu’s Lido Beach lent her a makeshift “hookah system” (a long hose attached to an air compressor) so she could complete the dive.
Wilcox said many of his clients are on “country counting” missions or are also travelers seeking extreme destinations. “Mogadishu is the highest-risk destination where Untamed Borders operates,” he said, adding that he had been guiding and organizing tours to Mogadishu for more than a decade without incident. “The risk of attack is real. All of the limited locations where international guests can stay are potential targets. We cannot fly off the radar in Mogadishu.”
Still, he added, violent fighting has decreased significantly over the past few decades. Among those who took advantage of the relative stability was former British wastewater engineer Peter Brock, who traveled to Somalia with Untamed Borders in November 2024 as part of a personal quest to visit all 52 African countries.
Accompanied by armed guards, Block toured the city’s fish market, waterfront and ruined cathedral. “I have to admit, it was unlike any travel experience I’ve had before,” he told CNN. “But I enjoy traveling to dangerous places, so I never felt in danger,” he added. “The security at the airport on departure was impressive. It went smoothly. It was a much more enjoyable experience than flying through London’s Heathrow Airport.”
The country’s humanitarian challenges remain severe. Conflict, political tensions and climate-related disasters will displace more than 550,000 people across Somalia in 2024, with nearly 3 million already internally displaced, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Although piracy has declined, it remains a threat in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
“Some parts of Somalia are incredibly dangerous,” Wilcox said. “There are some incredibly stupid places for internationals to go.”
Located in the northwest, Somaliland is a self-declared republic that has been functioning autonomously since 1991 and offers a very different experience. With its own military, democratically elected government and currency, it has been considered the “safest” way to visit the wider Somalia region.
“People have a lot of misconceptions about Somaliland because they mistake the country for Somalia,” says Deke Hassan Abdi, one of Somaliland’s first female tour guides. She wants visitors to understand that her “country” is very different from Somalia. “Some people think it’s not safe, but that’s not true. So tourism is a great way to help differentiate between the two.”
She wants Somaliland to be recognized internationally and believes tourism will help put the region on the map. “Somaliland offers a valuable experience for travelers looking for something different,” she said. Ancient rock art, nomadic culture and pristine beaches are among her recommended highlights. “My favorite place to take tourists is the local downtown market in Hargeisa. I love getting tourists to interact with the locals. They realize how welcoming my people are and how safe it is to walk around the city without the need for security guards.”
Outside Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, tourists require an armed police escort, and the region’s “border” with Somalia is usually declared a no-go zone by Western governments. But for Dylan Harris, founder of Lupine Travel, which has operated here since 2013, Somaliland has always been a safer option than Somalia.
“The biggest highlight for Somaliland is the 5,000-year-old cave paintings at Ras Gir,” Harris said. “But people are also interested in the abandoned ships in the old port town of Berbera.
“Fewer people are interested in Somalia, likely due to the fact that Somaliland is now much safer to visit and much of the region is travelable.”
Claire Makin, who loves traveling to hard-to-reach destinations and visited both regions on Untamed Borders, agrees. “Somaliland will be on the tourism map long before Somalia,” she said. In Mogadishu, he felt security was too restrictive to talk to locals. “The people of Somaliland were welcoming and we couldn’t believe we had chosen to visit their country. But Somalia is not for the faint of heart.”
In November 2025, Untamed Borders and Lupine Travel were conducting several trips to Mogadishu in conjunction with the Most Traveled People’s Summit, an annual gathering of Extreme Travelers to be held in neighboring Ethiopia in November 2025. A short side trip to Somalia will be a hot ticket for many summit attendees.
However, Somalia is likely to remain a niche destination for the foreseeable future. Even with the new e-visa, the country’s tourism landscape remains fragmented. The central government system currently applies only to arrivals in Mogadishu. Somaliland and another semi-autonomous region, Puntland, rejected this while maintaining their own entry requirements.
Still, Wilcox said the first guests took advantage of the new e-visa system. And the very fact that Somalia has launched e-visas could be a significant step forward for the country’s emerging tourism industry.
“Countries where we work, such as Pakistan and Tajikistan, have seen many e-visa systems introduced over the years,” he said. “I think this Somali one is the best so far. No one has implemented it better.”
