BY A STAFF REPORTER
Ethiopia, which is the cradle of mankind, boasts natural touristic spots that run the gamut from the Dashen Mountain, Blue Nile falls, Sof Omer cave to the Denakle depression. It also prides in handmade touristic attractions like Axum and Lalibela. Newly built and emerging parks are also adding luster to the touristic lures of the country.
Owing to these magnetic pulls and its being peculiar in so many ways, Ethiopia is the focus of attention of many. World data website shows that in 2020 Ethiopia, all together, had received and entertained 518 thousand foreign tourists. The same year in the tourism sector alone Ethiopia had obtained 2 point 28 million dollar. Among the international tourists that come to east Africa 54% of them make Ethiopia their destination.
Apart from the aforementioned tangible heritages, Ethiopia also stands out for its wide-ranging intangible heritages. The finding of the true cross Meskel and thanksgiving Irecha are but to mention some of the celebrations held in September (this week). Also various events which mark the ensuing of the new year of Ethiopia like Feche Chembelala are proceeding apace. Tourists that attend such events get a chance to visit additional events and areas too.
Traditional administrative and democratic systems as well as court procedures like Gada are found among the prominent intangible attractions. It is known that celebrations related to cultures and religions are known for attracting more local and foreign tourists.
The country is generating hard currency from the smokeless industry. But given its potential in the sector, Ethiopia has not yet reaped as much benefits as it should. It suffices to comparatively assess reports from neighboring countries like Kenya.
Media outlets, Diasporas and ambassadors could do a lot in the advertisement work. Especially September (Meskerem) bristling with holidays is a ripe moment to do the advertisement work and attract local and foreign tourists.
Digital technology transfer’s role for the development of the tourism sector goes without saying. This sheds light on the fact that there is a call for capitalizing the utilization of technology to augment the hard currency the country is garnering from the tourism sector.
A cutthroat competition marks this era. To emerge successful in tourism brushing shoulders with those that have proved outstanding in the global arena, when it comes to embracing cutting-edge technology, there is no batting of eyes. As the large segment of tourists that come here are from the developed countries, keeping abreast with modern trends is a must do. It is through making use of the digital technology that tourists get information about their destinations. They want to check the tranquility, infrastructural facilities and services they get in their country of destination.
Also developing an information database using recent technology is exigent. It will be a step forward. Properly collecting data on how many tourists came the previous years, which touristic spots were visited and how much foreign exchange was collected, among others, are decisive to evaluate the past, better handle trends today and prognosis situations down the road.
It also serves as a key toolkit in the backpacks of policymakers, for it helps to single out hurdles in the sector and troubleshoot them. Businesspersons and investors in the tourism sector have to be foresighted enough to build tomorrow on the bedrock of today leaning on technological utilization. They have to be mindful of international competitions.
In this regard, the government must encourage and support business persons that come aboard the industry. Parallel to this, within a framework of law, it has to put the task of reinforcing the sector with technological applications so that all will give attention to the required goal. This will help keep pace with those countries that took the lead in modernizing the sector. It will also open doors for job opportunities. Costumes and artifacts could sell like a hot cake. Hotels also get busy. Such a situation widens job opportunities.
As many youths are engaged in IT technology they could be incentivized to come up with different applications. Encouraging creative youths to aggressively develop mobile applications that lets tourists confirm lodgings, ask rates of foreign exchange, facilitate taxi contracts and know weather forecasts is essential.
Supported by stakeholders, the government must reinforce the sector through training. To translate into action the set plan of rendering the sector vibrant a lot is expected from the Tourism Ministry. All said, outages of internet and electricity that surface at times must also be addressed. To emerge competitive in the global arena improving policy frameworks is essential.
It is to be recalled that Tourism Minister Ambassador Nasise Chali had recently told media that “To revive tourism activities across the nation, we have been building tourist destinations in various areas via designing sound domestic tourism strategy. In the effort of increasing tourist influx in various states of the country, we have been active in creating awareness organizing various tour events and visiting the stunning tourist attraction sites,”
This year’s World Tourism Day (2022) was colorfully marked in Benishangul Gumuz state capital Assossa from Sep 23 to 25 under the theme “Rethinking tourism”. Its being held near GERD had made the occasion special.
Such events held on rotatory turns help to introduce or advertise touristic spots and artifacts. They also create occasions for brainstorming on research papers and exhibitions.
The Ethiopian Herald September 29/2022
