ADDIS ABABA- Ethiopian Tourism Organization (ETO) urged the art community to promote the Ethiopian tourism sector to increase tourist inflow.
At a discussion held yesterday with the art community, Organization’s Director Lensa Mekonnen said that Ethiopia has untapped cultural and religious heritages which can have strong potential to increase inflow of tourists.
The art communities, in this regard, have considerable role to promote the heritages through their art works.
The Organization is willing and its door is open to work with the art community to promote the Ethiopian tourism sector to the world at large and attract tourists for high returns, she added.
Organization Deputy Director Sertsefire Sebehat, also said that tourism by itself is an art. Lalibela Rock Hewn churches, Gondar Fasiledes, Jimma Aba Jifar and many other cultural, traditional and religious heritages are the result of art. Therefore it is essential to discuss it with the art community and a prior task to meet with the art people.
As to Sertsefire art people has an absolute quality for introducing the tourism sector with their artistically made works. Their two line poems, brush touches, films and all their works in a glance can have high quality message in attracting tourists for the country. They have a great impact in changing the Ethiopian tourism.
According to him, as their works directly interrelated with it, they ambassadors for this industry. There upon it is expected to prop up Ethiopian tourism on their works besides their role in the strategic plan of the organization.
Artist Dessalegn Hailu has on his part said that tourism has multifaceted advantages in country’s socioeconomic growth ranging from job creation to generating hard currency. “Therefore, we have to care about our tourism potentials. Simply, we can change our festivals, cultural resources, traditional foods, drinks and clothes as economic resource by bringing them to the market as what many other countries are experiencing.
As to him, it is better for Ethiopia to work on more on its natural, cultural, traditional and religious resources. The Organization should work with different professional associations and stakes to modernize and introduce the tourism sector. “We, art people, have greater responsibility in increasing Ethiopian tourism by introducing our tourisms in each of our works” he added.
The Ethiopian Herald, January 16/2019
BY HIZKEL HAILU
