According to recent review of World Travel and Tourism Council, Ethiopia’s tourism economy grew by 48.6 percent in 2018, the largest of any country in the world, surpassing the global average growth rate of 3.9 percent and the African average of 5.6 percent. The review also announced that the sector supported 2.2 million jobs and contributed 7.4 billion USD to Ethiopia’s economy, an increase of 2.2 billion USD in 2017.
While this is encouraging; taking into account Ethiopia’s enormous potential, a country with a mixture of unique natural, cultural and historical tourism resources, and also with the highest number of UNESCO world heritage sites in Africa, much work needs to be done to fully exploit it.
And this is what Tadele Jemal, Senior Communication Expert at Ministry of Culture and Tourism, indicated when talking to The Ethiopian Herald. Tourism activities are growing consistently in terms of number of visitors coming to the country to visit, numbers of service delivery institutions like hotels, recreational places etc. … and the total revenue it brings in. But, this does not mean that the performance is satisfactory taking into account the vast tourism potential of the country.
It is about promotion
Countries, both neighboring and non-neighboring countries, with less tourism potential than us are performing much better than us, primarily because of how they promote themselves, and how they promote their tourist attractions, he noted. “Their promotional strategy is better than us.”
In relation to this, he continued, activities are underway to better market nation’s tourist attractions using new technological tools the world is currently using, and aim to boost its tourism revenue. “There are many new ways to market in this technology era we live other than traditional media, such as the social media. We have started using digital media for promotional purpose, in addition to traditional media like electronic and printing media.”
In addition to this, Ethiopia Tourism Organization (ETO), now renamed Tourism Ethiopia, leads a consistent and coordinated effort to communicate and promote the different destinations and tourism products Ethiopia has to offer in various international events. “They are present in no less than 10 international events annually. For instance, very recently the organization was present at the prestigious Dubai Trade Fair.”
New Attention
After coming to office, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has targeted the tourism sector as one of the main pillars for bringing socioeconomic growth, Tadele said before adding that a new directorate that oversees destination development has been setup as part of the reform in the sector. “It will oversee the development and administration of new destinations and tourism products, and of course the existing ones as well.”
“By turning the Grand Palace into a new tourist attraction in just three month long renovation work, the new Prime Minister has shown us that how new tourist attractions and new destinations can be created within short span of time by just being little creative.” New tourist destinations are also being developed in Entoto, Yeka in Addis alone, and in other parts of the country as well.
As part of sectoral reform, the expert said, there have been restructuring of institutional structures in order for the tourism to stand on its own. In some regional states, tourism is setup along with other sectors like youth, culture, and in some cases even with the agriculture sector, he opined. So, the move will free tourism from other sectors to be setup as a standalone, an as a sole institution, given all the focus and priority a lone institution can get. This is expected to bring more attention to the sector.
The future
As part to revitalize the tourism industry, the government back in 2016 launched a new brand ‘Land of Origin’ in a bid to revitalize the tourism industry, introduce tourist attraction of the country to the rest of the world, and improve its competitiveness.
“The former ‘13 months of sunshine’ was a good brand, and it served its purpose. But we needed change as the world changes through time, and it was time for new brand that goes with the current dynamics of the industry and current state of the world. So, we changed it to ‘Land of Origin’.”
And as part of the new branding, one marketing strategy that was employed was to prioritize the development of the meetings industry (MICE) and exploit the potential of transit tourism, driven by the growth of Addis as a dynamic and growing regional hub thanks to Ethiopian Airlines growing connectivity, and visa relaxation policies.
As to the expert, both sectors are promising to the growth of the industry whereby the meeting industry is being exploited in collaboration with the private sector. And with regards to the transit tourism, the aim is to make potential tourists out of those who use Addis Ababa airport as transit by working closely with tour organization that have bureaus at the airport. “We give capacity building trainings to them so that they can promote the country to travelers who are just transiting through Addis.”
Finally, Tadele concluded by stating his belief that the future of the industry is quite positive. Taking into account the 10 year long sustainable master-plan, if it is managed to be properly implemented, it yields a very good future full of opportunities in the sector.
The Ethiopian Herald December4, 2019
BY ROBEL YOHANNES
