The world has changed as a result of the breaking out of global pandemic COVID-19. Call it developed or poor, every country throughout the globe has suffered major challenges. Economic and social interactions were the ones that felt the hit.
There are sectors and jobs that need direct human interactions of which the pandemic’s protocol prohibits. Such sectors have experienced the worst income decline in history due to the pandemic.
Things got even worse when the problem came to African countries. With no adequate infrastructures and facilities, the people of Africa have been suffered a lot. Their interactions with the outer world became unimaginable. Most flights from African countries were cancelled.
One if the most affected sectors by the pandemic is the tourism and hospitality sector. Companies and their workers have faced the most awful risks. As most of the workers are breadwinners, their life became the battle they couldn’t win.
Motherland of millions, Ethiopia, has been among the major affected country by the pandemic. With all tangible and intangible heritages, cultures and other historical sites, the country expects much from the tourism and hospitality sector. The sector is owned by both private and the public. For better achievements and to retrieve the sector, these two parties must work hand in glove.
As the situation on the ground indicates, the government of Ethiopia has been supportive for those private stakeholders and expressed its willing to work together. Various incentives were given to those who want to invest in the country though the government losses much.
Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations have organized a panel discussion with private stakeholders who dedicated to invest on the hospitality sector. It is organized under the objectives of sharing current government policy direction and support. The second objective is discussing on the tourism sector development, current status, opportunities and challenges. The third one is discussing on collaborative efforts of the government, business associations and private sector for developing the sector. One more objective is having common understanding on further actions necessary to tackle the current challenges.
On her opening speech at the panel discussion, Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations’ President, Mesenbet Shenkute said that Addis Chamber is working as a bridge between the government and the private sector. It also facilitates different programs and platforms on major national and economic issues of the country.
The President noted that the tourism and hospitality sector contributes 9 percent of the total income of the country, and also created jobs for 2.2 million citizens to date.
Ethiopia has given great focus to the sector and takes important steps towards improvement. From those positive steps the government of Ethiopia has taken, the most significant one is establishing a Ministry specifically for Tourism. In the 10 years perspective development plan, the tourism sector has won special attention from the government side. A number of tourist sites have been constructed and others are under construction, and some of them even started attracting tourists. This helps the sector to revive in the nearest time possible, the President disclosed.
According to Mesenbet, the sector has untapped resources from which the country could gain much benefits. However, the global pandemic and the conflict in the northern part of the country have caused negative impact on the sector. The private service providers have suffered a lot from these challenges. Every service providers from hotel to taxi drivers have experienced the burden. Studies show that Ethiopian tourism stakeholders are under the category of middle and small enterprises.
Albeit numerous actions were applied to uplift the tourism sector, there are still challenges that choke the sector. Some of them are service quality, competitiveness, basic infrastructures, and financial supports. Such panel discussion will pave the way for concerned parties to talk and work together.To answer the demands, the government needs to Work together with banks and other financial institutions to get loans with low interest rates. Besides, focusing on infrastructures, promoting local and group vacations, and look for neighboring countries’ markets are some of the solutions to boosting the sector, Mesenbet said.
By the same token, Addis Ababa city Administration Culture, Arts and Tourism Director, Hirut Kassaw (PhD) has put her ideas on tourism and hospitality. The director said that according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Ethiopian always get green by its tourism resources. However, the saddest part is that Ethiopia always gets yellow and red regarding tourism facilities. This suggests that on what field the nation’s policy should focus on. It is vividly clear that the government should focus on fulfilling the necessary infrastructures. It makes urgent to build better infrastructures related to the tourist sites. On the other side, working on the minds of the people should be considered. Regarding hospitality and its flaws, what changes these problems is the mindset to be created in the minds of the service providers and the people. The country has enough skilled manpower in the sector, but owners of hotels prefer to hire their own kinship rather than a skilled manpower. This definitely harms the service intended to be provided.
When coming to the concept of tourism, most Ethiopians think it is all about foreigners. This may be is because it has been done a little or none on promoting domestic tourism and lack of awareness toward the people about tourism. This would have helped as in times of trouble like COVID. Forming the best foundation in relation to tourism, thus, ought to be a timely duty. Promoting domestic tourism and forming national standards will help the nation curb the problem, the Director mentioned.
The director also suggested on better outcomes. She further said; “We need to use the incentive from the government very wisely. In addition, these incentives should be continuous. Within 4-5 years gap, these incentives should be given again as most items should be replaced. If executed, we submitted a policy that gives a second chance to the tour operators. It will allow them import a car based on their performance, their generated incomes, and the quality of provided services. This will uplift the system and increase the level of hospitality service,” She suggested.
In the panel discussion, Ethiopian Tourism and Hotel Marketing Association President, Getahun Alemu presented his study on promoting sustainable tourism development. Getahun highlighted that stakeholders should work on marketing promotions. “The system we build should incorporate the domestic tourism and we need to aware the people that local tourism is affordable,” he remarked.
Further, Ethiopian Tour Operators Association President, Andinet Feleke also presented her study on prospects and challenges of the sector. According to her presentation, tour operators play the lion’s share in the sector. It is the fact that Ethiopia has untapped resources, but there are challenges to curbed yet. It is the right way to learn from other countries. Rwanda can be the best example in this regard. Its number of tourists has been increasing from time to time.
Andinet disclosed the reason behind this progress is that the government of Rwanda has set clear policy on the sector. They put clear directions and goals. This is done because the government of Rwanda has devoted to achieve the set goals. They mobilize the people and create awareness on how to accommodate tourists. The government of Rwanda puts clear directions on the private sector and its promotion. The incentives and benefits that private sectors get are stated clearly with all the preconditions to be fulfilled.
“Therefore, in Ethiopian context,” Andinet said, “The most challenging part is the problem of governance and leadership. In the past 15 years, the private sector has been insisting the government to establish clear tax systems. We need to work on these administrative problems together.”
Not only that, Travel and Tourism Consultant, Theodros Atlabachew (PhD) has also presented his study on Strategic Approach for the Development of Tourism Sector in Ethiopia. Through his presentation, he highlighted major challenges of tourism and the strategic outlook on the development of the sector. He also put some recommendations.
He said that new marketing strategies that will help to boost the sector should be designed. He mentioned that stakeholders should identify additional and new markets like China and Russia. Based on the report of UNWTO, since 2010, China and Russia become the top tourists emerging countries. The consultant advised that stakeholders should get goals with the highest priorities.
Besides, Stakeholders should prioritize the promotion of domestic tourism with necessary incentive packages for service providers. It is also suggested that an advisory team should be established composed of every stakeholders.
To wrap up, the panel discussion has raised major prospects and challenges of the sector. Numerous ideas were raised for discussion. The government has the wiliness to address the questions of the private actors in the sector, and also the private sector should work on up scaling the services. With a common goal, Ethiopia will achieve what is expected from the sector.
BY DANIEL ALEMAYEHU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 5 APRIL 2022
