Tourism, an ever-expanding service industry, is becoming one of the largest and dynamically developing sectors in the global economy. Its capacity to generate employment both directly and indirectly, potential to earn hard currency and foster infrastructure development as well as new management and education experience have made the industry desirable for all. In short, tourism development has become a catalyst in accelerating socio-economic development.
Ethiopia is blessed with several immense natural, cultural and historical tourist attractions. It boasts an abundance of attractions ranging from wildlife, landscape, culture, history and archaeology sites.
Besides being the origin of mankind, coffee, and the likes, the country is home to the Blue Nile, one of the two major tributaries of the Nile, and Erta Ale, the second most active volcano and the beautiful Danakil Depression. It is also home to various rift valley lakes, hot springs and highland lakes at every corner. The country is called the water tower of East Africa and has beautiful scenery with spectacular chain mountains.
There are also various national and regional parks with a large number of endemic wild animals. Awash National Park and Semein Mountains National Park are among the nine parks and two beautiful sanctuaries.
Moreover, Ethiopia is also among the earliest countries to accept with open arms ancient religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Its ancient churches and mosques, carved stones and monuments, and other mysterious religious and cultural sites are also among the most attractive tourist sites in the world.
The country’s UNESCO registered heritage including the majestic obelisks of Axum, the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and the historic fortified town of Harar, among others, have always remained tourist magnets, drawing visitors in droves.
Having a unique calendar and alphabet, the country has national archives and library with different priceless manuscripts. The 80 nations, nationalities and peoples have their own unique culture, language, and amazing tradition.
Since recently, Ethiopia’s growing tourism sector has felt the effects the instability in some parts of the country. However, the government’s measures to restore peace and stability are now revitalizing the tourism sector.
Amhara State Culture and Tourism Bureau said the number of tourists visiting the state’s historic and natural tourist attractions has increased in July.
Melkamu Adamu, Bureau Tourism Development Directorate Director told The Ethiopian Herald that following the June 22 incident, the state has managed to fully restore peace and stability and the number of tourists who come to visit the state’s tourist destinations has increased.
The lakeside city of Bahir Dar, the historical cities of Gondar and Lalibela, as well as Debark (Semen Mountain National Park), are the top tourist destinations in the state that are seeing a surge in the number of foreign and local tourists.
In June, some 1,285 and 1,575 tourists have visited Lalibela and Bahir Dar. This number has increased to 2,320 and 3,787 respectively in July. Simien Mountain National Park and Gondar have also seen a surge in the number of tourists.
The Amhara state of Ethiopia is home to many historical and natural World Heritage Sites such as the Simien Mountain National Park, Fasil Ghebbi (The Royal Enclosure and the remains of a fortress-city in Gondar) and the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela.
At the federal level, the country planned to attract 1.5 tourists and earn 5.5 billion USD during the previous fiscal year. However, some 849,122 tourists have visited the country, which was 55 percent of the plan.
Accordingly, the tourism sector generated 3.1 billion USD to the economy, 64 percent of the plan, according to Tariku Negash, Communication and Public Relations Expert at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. But, there is an encouraging development in domestic tourism as more than 23 million domestic tourists have visited locally.
Being this the fact, on the other hand, Ethiopia’s travel and tourism economy has grown by 48.6 percent in 2018, surpassing the global average growth rate of 3.9 percent and the African average of 5.6 percent, according to World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) annual report.
To boost the tourism income, the ministry is working with stakeholders to expand tourist destinations and build strong institutions.
Recently, the ‘13 Months Sunshine’ the national tourism brand which represented Ethiopia for over 50 years was replaced by a new tagline “Land of Origins” introduced in 2016. However, the brand has not effectively promoted due to lack of proper promotion to attract more tourists. “In addition, there is a lot of work to extend the stay of tourists in the country,” he said.
The Ministry is building capacity and assigning trained experts in filling a knowledge gap in tourism marketing and promotion.
Representing 9.4 percent of country’s total economy, the country’s tourism income is mainly driven by international visitors spending. Particularly, the 2018 performance of the tourism sector was applauded by international stakeholders.
“Ethiopia’s Travel and Tourism boom was one of the great success stories of 2018. It has exceeded our sector’s global and regional comparisons to record the highest level of growth of any country in 2018”, Gloria Guevara, CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council, Gloria Guevara said.
“This has been driven by the solid performance of aviation in the country and the development of Addis Ababa as a dynamic and growing regional hub.” The timeless charm of Ethiopia’s natural, cultural and historical tourist attractions have been driving an influx of tourists from far and wide. The current relative peace and stability in the country is expected to create a favorable conduction to repeat this success story.
The Ethiopian Herald August 29, 2019
BY TSEGAYE TILAHUN
