BY TEWODROS KASSA
This year’s World Tourism Day was celebrated across the world on 17 September, 2022 with the theme of “Rethinking Tourism.” On the event various insights and experiences have been shared to recover the tourism sector that has been severely affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Ethiopia also marked the Day colourfully from September 23-25, 2022 in Assosa Town, Benishangul Gumuz State with various events including photo exhibition and fair that show and promote untapped cultural, historic and natural tourism potentials of the country and the State.
Obviously, the tourism sector is one of the five pillar areas of development being identified by the current leadership in Ethiopia. Following this, with the initiative of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD), the nation has been constructing a number of tourist destinations; including the famous Unity Park, Sheger Park, and Entoto Park that are currently attracting numerous domestic and foreign tourists from all walks of life.
The timely completion of new tourism projects like Gorgora, Wonchi and Koisha are also of instrumental in making the country one of the top international tourist destinations apart from building its image.
Those tourist attractions in the capital were completed within short period of time and many more around the country are in the pipeline.
Just days before, the Premier also inaugurated the first Science Museum in Ethiopia which opens multiple doors for the nation to go forth in the technology sector. Such facilities can inject positive atmosphere to build nation’s digital economy. Besides, the facility will be an ideal place for tourists to pay a visit.
The newly inaugurated Science Museum also hosted the first Pan Africon Artificial Intelligence (AI) 2022 Workshop and Exhibition from October 04-05, 2022. As it is learned, the primary vision of the Pan Africon AI 2022 workshop and exhibition is to create favourable employment and start-up businesses and activities in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.
“As we inaugurate Ethiopia’s Science Museum, launch a technology exhibition and open the first Pan-African Artificial Intelligence conference today, all are essential for networking, learning and co-creating across the continent, as we all strive to empower Africa through digital transformation,” tweeted Prime Minister Abiy following the inauguration of the Museum.
Tourism experts also lauded the accomplishment of such a mega science museum in the country. The Museum will have a great potential to attract numerous domestic and international tourists. More importantly, it will ignite science tourism to Ethiopia by promoting its capacity to host various science exhibitions and workshops.
During this year’s 42nd World Tourism Day 2022 celebration held in Assosa Town, Tourism Minister Nasise Chali said that Ethiopia needs to transform the traditional way of running tourism activities into a modern one so as to garner benefits it deserves out of the tourism sector.
The country is highly endowed with numerous tourism potentials despite its low level of benefiting from the smokeless industry mainly due to the traditional means of utilizing tourism potentials and other related natural and manmade factors so far. The tourism sector has helped the country boost people to people ties and balance climate change apart from providing countries with economic and social benefit thereby building Ethiopia’s image.
“Marking the annual World Tourism Day through various events would also be instrumental in grabbing the attention of citizens towards the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), raising public awareness about tourism and the numerous tourist attraction sites in the country in general and in the State in particular. Ethiopia has not yet benefited out of the tourism sector at the level it deserves. The rethinking or new approach would help the nation come up with paradigm shift thereby transforming the way the tourism sector has been run for years”, she said.
On his part, Sheik Hojellie Al-Hassen Civil Trial and Assosa Museum Tour Guide, Soleiman Abdullahi said that Ethiopia in general and Benishangul Gumuz State in particular is highly endowed with myriads of tourist attraction sites, tangible and intangible heritages, as well as natural and manmade attractions.
The Ministry of Tourism and State’s tourism bureau have to capitalize on a range of tourism potentials via equipping the generation with the required knowledge of their country and transforming the means by which tourism is promoted instead of running scattered activities, he recommended.
Mentioning that the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic coupled with the conflict in some parts of the country and other related factors have hugely impacted the tourism sector, he said, even if it is not at the desired level, the sector is reviving now.
According to him, the Benishangul Gumuz State is uniquely rich in its natural resources, cultural and historic tourist attraction sites. What is more, it is a place where the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), by which the country will make poverty history within the shortest time possible, is located. The islands, estimated to be over 70 and created around the Dam, are also the other attractions that can generate substantial income if all investors work on them.
This would undoubtedly help the country boost its socio economic progress, cultural development and balance climate change impacts.
As to him, there are ample tourist attraction sites, countless heritages and other resources all over the country; what matters is producing a generation excellently knowing the inside out of the country.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) started World Tourism Day in 1979. The celebrations for the same officially began in 1980. It is celebrated on 27 September every year because the date marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Statutes of UNWTO.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 14 OCTOBER R 2022
