Ethiopia is a land of national contrasts, from the tops of the rugged Simien Mountains to the depths of the Danakil Depression at 120 meters below sea level one of the lowest dry land points on earth.  The cornucopia of Natural beauty that blesses Ethiopia offers an astonishing variety of landscapes.  

Ethiopia's many national parks enable the visitor to enjoy the country's scenery and its wildlife, conserved in natural habitats, and offer opportunities for travel adventure.  History and nature are not the only attraction of this surprising country.  It is a unique experience to come into contact with its people, so deeply rooted in their traditional culture, to participate in religions rites in one of the many   Coptic churches,   exquisite minarets and mosques, to meet native populations like the Hamer, the Mursi, the Caro and the many other whose lifestyle is hard to imagine today, so far is it from our modern life.  

  Ethiopia has a very strong cultural identity, which has been preserved lasting practically until present times.  Traveling to Ethiopia is an enriching experience whereby one will encounter an unforgettable land rich  in  history  and   culture   dating some 3000 years.  One can come to face to face with monuments and ruins, thatched roof and rock-hewn churches and monolithic  stelae, a vast array of landscape, more than 80 ethnic groups, mighty rivers and waterfalls, chain of rift valley lakes, unique flora and fauna all which leave anyone enchanted by Ethiopia.

Many people visit Ethiopia or hope to do so one day because of the remarkable manner   in   which   ancient   historical traditions have been preserved.   The country has six major tourist entry ports, by air Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, by road Moyale, Metema and Galafi and by railway Dawele.  Tourist entry through these ports for years 2001 - 2005 in shown below.

 

Year	Bole	Other entries	Total arrivals
2001	116,438	32,000	148,438
2002	130,939	25,388	156,329
2003	160,234	19,676	179,910
2004	172,954	11,124	184,078
2005	193,288	34,110	227,398

 

                         

 

 

As a result the favorable peaceful situation and to some extent the effort the country has made in changing its image the flow of tourists in recent years is encouraging.  For instance, arrivals has registered high growth rates of 15.1%, 2.3% and 23.5% in the years 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05 respectively. 

The graph below shows arrivals growth rate between years 1998 to 2005.

                            

Among the major tourist generating countries to Ethiopia United States of America stands first, for instance in the year 2005 tourists from USA has contributed 14.2% of arrivals, and next to America, United Kingdom Kenya and Italy stood second, third and fourth respectively. 

When we see arrivals regionally African countries  are  the  major  markets  for Ethiopian tourism.   For instance, in 2003, 2004 and 2005 Africans has contributed 39%,  35.7% and 37.6%  of   arrivals   respectively.   

Next to Africa are Europe, America, Middle East, Asia and Oceania in ascending order.  

The chart below shows regional contribution of arrivals in the years 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. 

Year in G.C	Africa	Europe	America	Middle East	Asia	Oceania
2002	30.3	26.5	20.3	14.6	7.4	0.8
2003	39.0	24.0	17.8	11.4	7.0	0.8
2004	35.7	26.2	18.4	11.2	7.7	0.8
2005	37.6	25.1	18.2	9.7	8.5	0.9