It is quite good news to get tourist attraction sites registered in UNESCO. Not only is the country expected of getting tourist attraction sites registered but it is also duty bound to well nurture and maintain the safety of these precious national, continental as well as global assets.
The Gedeo Cultural Landscape and Bale Mountains have recently been registered in the UNESCO World Heritage list pushing the number of Ethiopian heritages recorded in the latter to eleven.
Such an audacious approach has thus required a long journey and firm cooperation. Since planning for tourism and heritage management is integrated at a destination level, the natural and cultural possessions need to be well protected and citizens have to eye at tourism progress. Tourism is intermingling of members of different communities and leads the nation to the creation of an international understanding of culture, traditions and values of destinations.
Tourism is instrumental in contributing a great deal to the national revenue from tourists, a range of local as well as foreign visitors. If this is so, every citizen of the country is duty bound to play their part in supporting the conservation of habitats, species and historic sites as well as cultural and natural heritages.
Many love to travel and seek out new places like vibrant cities, beautiful natural environments like marvelous landscapes such as Gedeo Cultural Landscape. The tourism industry has in Ethiopia evolved and grown as people scour the globe for the unique experiences and activities. Though things stalled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and sporadic skirmishes here and there, Ethiopia has now started to see improvement regarding the tourism sector and tourists are once again booking trips in high numbers. The tourism industry has now become the most important sector in Ethiopia in particular and across the globe in general for various reasons.
To mention but a few, the sector hires a lot of people as it has been a big job generator, it can pay off very well offering many opportunities for good-paying jobs. The sector does also have great repercussion in pushing Ethiopia’s GDP forward.
The other face of the tourism sector is it has been a means to paly vital role in ensuring gender equality as women fill the majority of the tourism industry. Yes, tourism is a field ripe for opportunities and strategies that can further empower women.
The sector is also of instrumental in fighting climate change. For instance, nature-based tourism is very popular, which opens avenues to protect nature such lakes, coastlines, state parks, wildlife, oceans, among others. Few can basically afford a luxury travel experience, but even visits to local cultural sites or natural areas can benefit citizens domiciled there.
The sector promotes cultural exchange as tourist attractions often showcase destination’s culture, history, and way of life, which can help to promote cultural exchange and understanding between visitors and locals. The case of the Geode Cultural Landscape is a case in point in this regard.
In a nut shell, tourism is an indispensable part of the service sector in Ethiopian economy since it adds to the national income, GDP. It plays a quintessential role in the socio-cultural integration of Ethiopia, too. The tourism sector has also enormous potential to create jobs and thus combat widespread unemployment in Ethiopia. Hence, transport and communication facilities must be improved, especially in the tourist hotspots, better infrastructure has also to be developed, and attention should be paid to cleanliness in order to enhance aesthetic appeal thereby promoting tourist attraction destinations via attracting many more local and foreign tourists.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2023
