ADDIS ABABA –The Ministry of Planning and Development (MoPD) has announced that Ethiopia’s Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) is a commendable step towards improving tourism data collection, enhancing experience, and fostering sustainable economic growth.
The ministry officially launched the national TSA on Tuesday.
Speaking at the event, MoPD State Minister Bereket Fesehatsion highlighted the significance of the TSA, calling it a major milestone in the effort to gather reliable, accurate, and comprehensive tourism data-an area that has posed challenges in the past. He added that the initiative is a key step towards improving data collection and analysis, enabling a better understanding of tourism expenditures.
“The government’s reform agenda has redefined the tourism sector, emphasizing its potential to transform community livelihoods by expanding from traditional heritage tourism to include cultural and urban tourism, which have been identified in recent years,” Bereket noted.
He emphasized that this approach aligns with Ethiopia’s Homegrown Economic Reform and the Ten-Year Development Plan, which prioritizes five key sectors: agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, mining, and the digital economy. Among these, tourism has emerged as a national priority, gaining the attention and support it deserves.
The Ministry stated that the TSA will be crucial in integrating tourism data into national economic planning, ensuring that tourism’s contributions are accurately reflected in the development strategy and in national income estimates. The TSA will enhance the accuracy of sectoral estimates, especially in services and trade.
“We are not only enhancing the tourism experience but also fostering sustainable economic growth. This strategy is pivotal for creating jobs, generating income for local communities, and raising living standards,” Bereket added.
The TSA provides a scientific measure of tourism’s impact on expenditure, GDP, and employment, allowing Ethiopia to assess the true value of this critical sector compared to others.
“TSA has several implications for our tourism sector and the broader economy,” Bereket said. “It improves GDP measurement, facilitates international comparisons, assesses economic impacts, informs policy development, supports sustainable planning, and attracts investment.”
The Ethiopian Statistics Services Director General Beker Shale (PhD) stated that tourism had been categorized as a service sector often overlooked for years. However, it has now been recognized as one of the five key contributors to national development, thanks to recent economic reforms and the increased attention from the Ethiopian government.
He further explained that tourism’s contribution to the economy has significantly improved, despite missed opportunities in the past. “The future of this sector is promising, and economic transformation will be supported by the data generated by the TSA,”Beker said.
The director general concluded by emphasizing that the TSA is a vital and reliable tool for measuring the sector’s contribution to the national economy, where tourism’s full potential has not yet been fully tapped. This initiative marks a significant step forward in analyzing the demand for crucial services linked to tourism activities and their interaction with other economic sectors.
BY MISGANAW ASNAKE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2024
