BY MULUGETA GUDETA
Tourism development in Ethiopia has passed through many ups and downs before it assumed a modern feature and became one of the most important economic sectors worth promoting and taking care of at this particular time when other sectors are negatively affected by adverse domestic and international factors. The contribution of tourism to the national economy can perhaps be summed up by the following information. “Travel and tourism in Ethiopia contributes much to the country’s GDP, employment and investment, etc. Tourism is also part and parcel of the country’s poverty reduction strategy with a policy objective of combating poverty and encouraging economic development in the country.”
According to a study by the Department of Agriculture, University of Gondar, the tourism sector in Ethiopia in general and in Gondar city in particular, “is a crucial armed force in fighting and reducing the extent and intensity of poverty in general in the areas of employment creation and GDP contribution”, according to data available for the study area. We can extend such observation by looking at the different tourism destinations in Ethiopia prior to the onset of COVID-19 in particular that has greatly undermined the meteoric growth of the industry in previous years.
However, despite past achievements, domestic tourism in Ethiopia is a little developed activity mainly due to the low cultural awareness of the advantages or benefits from travel and tourism that can accrue to the local population and also due to the little attention given by the authorities to developing it given the low incomes of most of the people who cannot afford to travel within the country. The grinding poverty and the costs of sheer survival are too high to permit most people to indulge in activities such as visiting domestic sites, an activity that may be taken as “luxury consumption”.
There is currently a promotional video sponsored by the Ministry of Culture on displayed on ETV in the context of the ongoing soccer World Cup which is not only revealing but also inspiring to say the least. Without going into the technicalities of the promotion and the sponsorship, we can even say that the theme of the message is nothing but timely and more powerful than the computer generated pictures that accompany the advertisement. It is a call for citizens to take part in domestic tourism as participants at this precise moment when the tourism sector had languished in darkness for the last two years since the onset of COVID- 19 and during the two-year conflict in the north of the country.
It is a kind of timely call for the domestic audience to turn its attention to the untapped resources of local tourism. It is also an invitation for people in other parts of Ethiopia to travel and discover for themselves a city that has survived for centuries and famed for its peace loving populations that have given the city its present shape, cultures and characteristics as the “gem of the east”.
The advertisement features the historic city of Harar, famous for its ancient relics not only as the center of Islamic learning but also as a kind of melting pot ethnic groups, something like Addis Ababa embracing people of varied origins who chose to live there in peace and brotherhood giving the nickname of “City of Love” to the charming small eastern town where the sun seems never to set and smiles continue to flicker on the faces of its inhabitants famous for their easy going manners that reflect the simplicity and enthusiasm with which they welcome daily life.
By the way, a short historical introduction or background would be in order here. According to information by Google, “Harar is a city in eastern Ethiopia. It is surrounded by a centuries-old defensive wall that has several large gates, including Duke’s Gate. The city is also known for its mazelike alleys and traditional houses decorated inside, with flat hanging baskets. A holy Islamic city, Harar has many mosques, including the Grand Jami Mosque with its tall white minarets…During the Middle Ages, Harar was part of the Adal Sultanate becoming its capital in 1520 under Sulatan Abu Bakr ibn Muhammed. The sixteen century was the city’s Golden Age. The local culture flourished and many poets lived and wrote there.
Despite the plurality of the city in terms of religious and ethnic composition, Harar has always escaped the conflicts that had been tormenting some parts of the nation for the last three or four years. Thus it stands as a beacon of peace, mutual understanding and a sense of commonness and common purpose. For this and other reasons, the town should serve as an emblem of peace to the rest of the country. The promotional display sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism is not only timely but also a timely initiative that serves as a catalyst to the sector that remained dormant for many reasons.
The last three or four years were not opportune moments for the development of the tourism sector that was disturbed by domestic and foreign conflicts and economic crises in addition to the COVID-19 that wreaked havoc on the sector at least for the last two years in particular. This is therefore a bold move by the Ministry at this time of global recession when tourism does not enjoy the front seat in international priorities as the world is being moved and shaken by a war-generated global inflation and political insecurity.
It is therefore important to plan and implement a realistic course of action to take tourism general and domestic tourism in particular out of its doldrums and set it on a more dynamic course of development. Maximum efforts need to be made in order to get maximum benefits from the sector. The promotion work can for instance involve youngsters in schools where they may be encouraged to set up students’ tourism clubs organize visits starting from the nearest tourism sites to the farthest ones.
Such trips can be organized in voluntary groups and contribute money for organizing student travels and visits to many parts of the country. Such a movement would not only broaden their views and knowledge of their country but also give them opportunities for knowing places and peoples they had never met. Youth tourism can be financially supported by the government and backed by volunteers who can support the initiatives in many ways possible.
Tourism groups can also be organized at work places on a voluntary basis with similar initiatives and can be encouraged by the tourism establishment as well other stakeholders including the respective work places that sponsor such initiatives. Money may be a problem but we can assume that if there is the will there will be the way. This kind of tourism expansion initiative can start at few workplaces and expand later on as the benefits would attract others in other places to join in. The Ministry of Tourism may also have a positive role to play in expanding such a proposal until the passion for travel and tourism takes hold and things start to roll on.
Most of all, tourism promotion is something that requires sustained efforts, clear objectives and policy flexibility and adaptation. You may not develop tourism by sending once in a while messages to the public on special occasions. You may need to mobilize available resources on a daily basis and oversee their management closely so that the growth of the sector can be tangible and measurable. Young and educated Ethiopian need to be attracted to the sector both as government employees, and for those who can afford, as private sector operators who can be engaged in tourism-related sub-sectors such as providing amenities, developing tourism infrastructures and providing digital services in processing travel requirements and so on.
As wars do not start overnight, so peace is not realized overnight. There is always a transition between the signing of agreements and their implementation on the ground. The transition may be short or long. While working harder to make the peace process irreversible it is also important to plan the post-conflict scenario so that things would return to normal and it will be business as usual. While commending the efforts or the initiatives the Ministry of Culture is taking to promote domestic tourism in particular, it should also be evident that tourism may not be promoted by flashy advertisements alone.
The Ethiopian Herald December 9/2022
