Ethiopia is canvassed as one of the oldest and most historic nation in the world. The country is endowed with tremendous heritages of both tangible and intangible ones. Even some of the heritages have been inscribed as world’s heritages by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In good truth, Ethiopia has still the potential to inscribe more heritages to the world.
Currently, Ethiopia has inscribed nine world heritages that incorporate both tangible and intangible heritages. Bale Mountains National Park, Holqa Sof Omar Natural and Cultural Heritage (Sof Omar: Caves of Mystery), Sacred Landscapes of Tigray, Lake Tana Island Monasteries and its Adjacent Wetland Natural and Cultural Heritages, and Melka Kunture and Balchit are among the registered heritages.
Ethiopia, with all the historical tourist attraction sites, has the power to generate enough income from tourism. Like its neighbors, Ethiopia can be the hub of tourism as the nation can provide plenty to its visitors. Getting the best out of the sector, the Government of Ethiopia has been in better shape in order to promote the sector and pull the responsible bodies including the private sector together to function as a team. Such oneness could turn the set objective to a reality.
It is very crucial to focus on two sections whenever one thinks of getting better result from tourism. The first is preserving and taking care of every part of the tourist attraction sites and heritages and abides it with plausible laws and regulations. The government is pushing forward to promote those sites in multiple scenarios.
Again, the responsibility of protecting those attraction sites and historical celebrations is the pioneer agenda for the government; however, it could not be done without the involvement of the people and stakeholders. To this end, the government of Ethiopia is working tirelessly to achieve its goals.
The other point is scaling up the service sector. In order to promote tourism in a given country, quality service must be provided . Parallel with the tourist attraction sites, equal attention must be given to the service providers’ skills. Standard and quality services should be there in order to generate the intended income from tourism. Most visitors, if not all, need at least standard service providers who can meet their expectations.
The private sector takes the lion’s share in the tourism service. Speaking of the private sector’s contribution, the government has taken the burden to facilitate and create more favorable conditions to the private sector so as to make them more productive. It is true that the private sector is highly involved in the service sector. Most hotels, tour operation offices, car rental centers are mainly owned by the private sector. Working together with the private sector is the first issue for the government to elevate the tourism sector to a better level.
Similarly, government-owned service providers have been taking the responsibility to be a role model to other service providers. There are major public-owned service givers that shine more and better than the other. The best example could be the Ethiopian Airlines. The flagship institution is not only stand for Ethiopia; rather it is the major transport service provider in Africa. It is not new for the company to be awarded a number of prizes across the world. The Ethiopian airlines has been nominated and won the prize in various categories.
In 2022, the Ethiopian Airlines has been crowned the winner of four awards at the SKYTRAX 2022 World Airline Awards. The airlines took the award for the Best Airline in Africa 2022 for five consecutive years, Best Business Class Airline in Africa 2022 for four consecutive years, Best Economy Class Airline in Africa 2022 for four consecutive years and Best Business Class Onboard Catering in Africa. Besides, the airlines moved up 11 ranks in the World’s Top 100 Airlines for 2022 and placed 26th. And plenty more will follow as the aviation company is striving for excellence.
The Ethiopian Airlines is one of the leading air- transport service givers that represent the whole Africa. It is also achieving best to Ethiopia regarding delivering the best transport experience to those who choose it to take them to Ethiopia and other destinations. The company has also been working together with both local and international institutions to bring in more service quality.
Coupled with other public and private stakeholders, travel agencies and tour operators are the main actors to promote the tourism sector. Without these entities, it is impossible to think of tourism. These institutions have been operating closely with multiple other bodies to attract tourists and visitors to come and visit the country.
Lately, the Ethiopian Airlines has awarded travel agencies and tour operators who have made outstanding contributions to the development of tourism in the country. The awarding ceremony held under the theme “Celebrating Partnership with Renewed Commitment.”
According to a local media, the program was held in the presence of high government officials including Alemu Sime, Minister of Transport and Logistics, Nasise Chali, Minister of Tourism, Mesfin Tasew, CEO of the Ethiopian Airlines, and representatives from various travel agencies and tour operators. The Award ceremony takes place annually to stimulate the tourism development sector in the country.
During the event, Minister of Tourism, Nasise Chali said that Ethiopian Airlines has been playing significant role to the promotion of tourism and economic development in the country.
As to the Minister, tourism is one of the five most promising sectors for the country’s economic growth, adding it is important to promote the immense tourism potential to generate revenue and benefit from the sector.
Noting several efforts have been intensified to develop the tourism sector across the country, she said, Ethiopian Airlines should strengthen the active role it is playing in promoting tourism destinations in the country.
She stressed that travel agencies and tour operators must intensify efforts to inspire tourists to visit Ethiopia with a view to adequately tap the benefits of the sector. Moreover, the Minister elaborated that Ethiopian Airlines is also playing a crucial role in promoting tourism conference.
Mesfin Tasew, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines on his part said that the Airlines has been playing a major role in the economic and multi-sectoral development of the country since its establishment.
He stated that the Ethiopian Airlines is doing a great job in connecting people, promoting and expanding tourism and facilitating trade. In this regard, the role of travel agencies and tour operators is very significant, Mesfin added.
Mentioning Ethiopian Airlines is the leading airline group in Africa, he said it will continue to work together with travel agencies and tour operators in the future.
The award recognizes travel agencies and tour operators their best performances in 8 categories including booking quality, promoting digitalization, high sales among others.
BY DANIEL ALEMAYEHU
The Ethiopian Herald August 17/2023
