President Girma said Africa should further exert efforts to enhance income from tourism sector in a bid to reduce poverty and meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Opening the 45th United Nations World Tourism Organization Conference here on Wednesday, President Girma said Africa has immense tourism resources.

The president said though Africa's income from the tourism sector has been steadily growing over the years, still a lot remains to be done to tap the sector to a level availability of the tourism resources warrant.

Africa is a continent of astounding natural beauty and a land with multitude of authentic and vibrant cultures with ancient roots, he said.

A remarkable number of paleo-anthropological findings in several countries including Ethiopia evidenced that the continent is humankind's origin and the beginning of civilization.

Protection of heritage and the environment, poor infrastructure, exclusion of communities from the benefits of tourism and image on the international market, among others, are some of the challenges the sector faces, according to, the president.

Girma said Ethiopia has designed integrated tourism development strategy to reduce poverty through public participation.

Minster of Culture and Tourism, Mohamoud Dirir, on his part said "we rededicate ourselves to rapid and sustainable development of tourism, with the knowledge that tourism is a key sector in economic development.

Ethiopia has been carrying out various activities in collaboration with various international organizations and development partners to develop the sector.

An average of over half a million tourists visited Ethiopia annually over the past few years, he said, adding efforts are well underway to raise the number to one million.