This is the tourism season in Ethiopia. Although some parts of the country may not be accessible to tourism and travel at this particular time, most of the country is open both for domestic and foreign tourism activities. Ethiopia has not yet used even a quarter of its tourism potentials that are as vast and as diverse as the country itself. Another problem consists of the fact that the same old tourism destinations are still the travel destinations for most tourists.
We sometimes feel that all the tourist sites in Ethiopia are located in distant and inaccessible places that tourists have to go there to discover them. Our ideas of tourism are largely formed by old stereotypes of us. Tourism means for most of us are castles in the north of the country, wildlife in the south, ancient or historic towns in the eastern parts of the country or natural wanders, nature and animals in the western parts of the country. The idea of tourism evokes in our minds difficult trips.
Ethiopia has not yet diversified its tourism destinations although a few attempts are making in the right direction. The identification of new and potentially lucrative tourism destinations in the country still remains one of the challenges of diversification. We often dream about distant tourism destinations while there are many unexploited potentials right under our eyes. Addis Ababa is of course a growing city with diverse tourism potentials awaiting development.
Obviously, the tourism industry is one of the strongest sectors in the economy of most developed countries. Tourism is often called the “smokeless industry”, an industry that requires relatively little investment while the returns are potentially immense. In the past, conventional wisdom was telling us that tourism was the business of the government or the public sector. According to this view, only government has the financial and organizational capacity to promote tourism in the country. Private individuals or potential investors in the sector were thus alienated from involving in the sector. This was mainly due to our fixation on traditional tourism destinations and our reluctance to develop new destinations. This view is however losing credence recently as a new approach to tourism development is increasingly gaining credence. Another problem is that tourism management and the absence of a guiding or long-term vision for the development of the sector. Because of this and other constraints, the sector has been languishing in stagnation instead of serving as a dynamic input for the growth of the economy in general.
According to available information, in developing countries like Ethiopia, the sector has not had visible impact on its economy. The revenues generated from tourism, are not reinvested within the sector. The growth of tourism depends on a long-term vision and the capacity to evaluate opportunities that require appropriate policy, planning, investment, strategic alliances and strategic management. Ethiopian tourism needs an overhaul of attitudes, thinking, strategizing and implementation. It is such a holistic approach that can save the sector from stagnation and catapult it into a process of dynamism and modernization.
Addis Ababa steps in to fulfil the above vision as it is the natural candidate for playing the role of the most important city in the country with great tourism potentials and a catalyst for development. A foreign tourist once said the following regarding the importance of the Ethiopian capital. He said, “Africa’s 4th largest city, the sprawling capital of Ethiopia – Addis Ababa – can certainly be an intimidating entry to the country. For this reason, on my first visit to Ethiopia, I was barely there for a night or 2, preferring to spend my time (like most visitors) in the churches of Lalibela and the natural awe of the Danakil Depression.
“But now, on my second visit to the country, I decided it was time to get to grips with this city – plus it had the only 3G connection in Ethiopia at the time, so I was kind of forced by blogging necessity to stay there! But stay there I did, for over a week in fact and slowly but surely Addis grew on me, until it became clear I’m rather a fan of this crazy African capital. For one thing, it’s incredibly safe – when compared to most others in the continent – and for the seconds, I really think there’s actually some pretty cool things to do in Addis Ababa.”
Addis Ababa has the potential and advantage to become one of the modern tourism centres in Africa for many additional reasons. Addis is the diplomatic centre of Africa and one of the biggest conference centres in the world. It is visibly becoming a modern city as its skylines are fast changing and its economic and political importance becoming more prominent than any time in its history. As a blogger wrote about Ethiopia and its capital city, “Ethiopia is of course a country that is endowed with various natural, cultural and historical heritages that enable the country to be a destination of conference tourism, attractions, and cultural events and is also gifted with friendly climatic conditions. The capital Addis Ababa with an average altitude more than 2,400 meters is conducive for tourists in its natural tourism segment due to it being considered as a ‘‘naturally air conditioned’’ city.
There are of course many tourism attractions across the country. There are also big towns like Gondar or Axum or Harar that are also centres of ancient history and tourism destinations. Yet, there is no city as big or as important as Addis in terms of its tourism potentials. “Whilst the inherent strength of the tourism product portfolio lies across the country, the industry remains concentrated in Addis Ababa, where visitor arrivals account for more than 86% of the total market shares.”
Ethiopia in general and Addis Ababa in particular are potentially competitive in the tourism industry in the region. However, we should be realistic in our assessment and realize that the country has still to go a long way to catch up with other competitors in the region. Kenya, for instance is the leading tourist destination in East Africa with its variety and marketing savvy.
This does not however mean that Ethiopia or Addis Ababa has lost its advantages as a potentially big and lucrative potentials and markets in the industry. Ethiopia’s demographic and territorial size gives it an edge over other countries in the region. The sad reality is that this vast potential largely remains idle or not fully exploited. “Currently Ethiopia should focus on other tourism asset such as urban destination, business conference, spa etc specifically for Addis Ababa.:
In order to improve inbound tourism and its competitiveness, the previous government had issued a tourism policy in 2009 at national level and subsequently Addis Ababa City Government also issued a regulation called the Addis Ababa City Government Cultural and Tourism Service Providers Licensing and Registration Regulation in 2009 to regulate the tourist service providers. It is not however clear to this writer whether or not this law is still in force or it has been revised or changed.
Addis Ababa can be said to be the macrocosm of Ethiopia because it is a small-scale representation of the entire country as far as tourism resources or historical relics are concerned. In a way it can be visualized as the museum of the entire country. “Moreover, Addis Ababa is a home of tremendous tourist attractions that have various cultural, historical, architectural, aesthetic, economic, spiritual, political and symbolic values. They have a considerable importance to inform us about the true remarkable past of Ethiopia in general and Addis Ababa in particular. They have also greater potentials for tourism industry if they are well promoted and appropriately utilised.”
Failure to promote the tourism potentials of Addis Ababa maybe considered one of the weaknesses of tourism management in the capital. While domestic tourism within the city has great potentials, there is no visible effort being made to popularize it. We could for instance form tourism promotion committees in every school in the capital in order to promote youth tourism and introduce the new generation to the beauty and potentials of Addis.
New parks, recreational centres and historical and religious sites could be promoted as tourism destinations in Addis. There is therefore much work to be done in this area. this obviously requires some kind of initial investment; yet this could be addressed by including private sector operators in this kind of projects. Tour and travel agencies could also be involved in the process.
According to available information, in Addis Ababa 150 cultural heritages have been registered and incorporated in the new master plan of the city. These include 35 historical churches, 2 mosques, 26 former public buildings, 72 residences of former notable, 17 monuments (statue), caves and bridges and 6 historical sites. Among the various inherited and cultural attractions of the city only the few and the major ones are annexed.
The above figures of historical sites were given a long time ago and as the situation has changed in the capital, there may be more or less sites at present. This requires to update previously available data. The tourism authorities in the capital should therefore turn their focus on promoting tourism in Addis Ababa that has long been neglected or overlooked.
BY MULUGETA GUDETA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER 2024
