ADDIS ABABA – The national “Clean Street-Healthy Life” campaign boosts tourism beyond creating beautiful and healthy cities for residents, tourism experts said.
Approached by the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA), Senior Tourism Researcher Ayalew Sisay (PhD) stated that studies conducted during the reign of Emperor Haile selassie and the Derge regimes identified poor sanitation among the major hurdles that affect Ethiopia’s tourism development.
Many of tourists that come to Ethiopia are from the developed world so that strict protocol and cleanliness is crucial to keep the health and frame of mind of the visitors, he stressed.
According to the scholar, the “Clean Street- Healthy Life” campaign is important to attract more visitors and lengthen the time tourists stay here. “It is not only the hotels and destinations of tourists that should be kept clean, but also all the streets and other places and cities that the visitors might see en route.”
Noting Ethiopia’s immense tourism potentials, Ayalew (PhD) however, stressed the need to develop and renovate these resources to get the desired outcome in the tourism industry. According to him, mobilizing the public in cleaning activities is crucial to attract visitors.
“For instance, Jewish people have developed a sense of responsibility to keep the cleanliness of their country even some of them might travel a long distance in search of dustbin having a waste in hand.”
In this regard, the government is advised to raise the public awareness besides to engage in infrastructural development to bring about tangible outcomes in creating clean environment.
Debre Berhan University Tourism and Hotel Management Lecturer Wubshet Kassa for his part said that all cities need to strive to excel in cleanliness. By drawing the cleanness experience of different African countries including Rwanda, South Africa, and Seychelles,’ Ethiopia could attract a large number of visitors.
The Lecturer also noted that clean Ethiopia campaign, therefore, is important to build Ethiopia’s good image by keeping its sanitation. “The tourists’ stay in a given city mainly relies on the cleanliness next to the security and living conditions. “
Likewise, lengthening tourists stay in cities increases the tourism income and usher a healthy competition among different cities to become attractive in the eyes of residents and visitors.
Wubshet mentioned that cities’ cleanliness is also crucial to boost conference tourism earnings stressing the need to establish clean public convention centers in addition to hotels.
Ethiopia’s city cleaning campaign and fund raising was recently launched by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD). In addition to ongoing cleaning activities, the fundraising enabled the government to mobilize 154.5 million Birr a single day from participants, it was learned.
BY STAFF REPORTER
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 23 MAY 2024
