Best Practices

Newsletter 18

 Towards Tapping Tourism Potentials

Ethiopia is often described as a cradle of mankind and a place where wonderful sites exist.  Ethiopia is truly a land of contrasts and extremes.  Some of the highest and most spectacular places in the African continent are found here, such as the Simien Mountains, one of UNESCO's World Heritage sites and some of the lowest, such as the Danekil Depression. 

Ethiopia is also home to early mankind.  The remains of "Lucy" or "Dinkinesh" has shown that Ethiopia is a country of mystery.  The discovery of a full body skull called Selam last month adds yet more weight to the argument that Ethiopia is the birthplace of humans.  Unlike many tourist destination countries in Africa, Ethiopia has got the historical factor besides its flora and fauna.  However, the contribution of the tourism sector has been insignificant.  Records in the former Ethiopian Tourism commission indicate that the contribution of tourism to GDP was 0.5% in 1999. 

In terms of flow of tourists also Ethiopia has got the lowest among African nations. 

Foreign travelers interested in the natural, cultural and historical attractions of Ethiopia had been increasing from year to year since late 19th century.  Nevertheless, the sector began to be considered as an economic activity in the early 1960's.  Therefore it's only a 45 years old sector.

Accordingly, the first tourist organization was established in 1961 and consequently, to develop tourism and attract investors in the sector the Imperial Government promulgated a decree in 1962.  At this time, tourism infrastructure was poor and there were inadequate number of hotels to accommodate tourists but tourism was in steady increment. 

  Axum Oblisk

Following the coming into power of the military government, tourism had been hampered significantly.  During this period, though several efforts were made to develop the tourism sector, the activity of the sector was left behind the pre-1998 period owing to the ideology of the government.  Besides, hostile environment to tourists, travel restriction, low level investment on tourists, absence of the private sector, security and above all poor level of infrastructure have contributed to lower flow of tourism, and foreign currency generation.           

With the demise of the military government, the Transitional Government  of  Ethiopia  /TGE/  brought about the market economy and encouraged the private sector to be an active player. 

As a result, TGE introduced reforms in the Tourism Sector and Ethiopia opened its gate for tourists from all parts of the world. 

Since then some efforts have been made to improve tourist attractions and tourism infrastructure and promote the country's tourism resource. The government is working with private tour operators to promote the sector. 

Furthermore, the budget allocated to tourism promotion and development has been increasing since 1993/94.  Due to this and many other reasons tourist arrivals have shown a considerable growth from 1992 onwards. 

 In terms of tourism facilities, there is a relative improvement in the sector.     The new policy stimulated private investment in tourism, and consequently, the numbers of tourism facilities have increased. 

Infrastructural developments of airports, construction of tourist class hotels, and expansion of roads in the recent past are making a marked difference in the flow of tourists from year to year.  

 It is true that infrastructural development doesn't suffice to attract tourists.  Promotion is vital. 

In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as part of its key activity, is working towards attracting tourists through Ethiopia's overseas missions.

Cognizant of the untapped tourism potential of the country, the government since the beginning of its third tenure has established tourism as a ministry, Ministry of Culture and Tourit.  This would enable Ethiopia to fully exploit its resource in the sector.

In fact, a lot has to be done to      promote Ethiopia as a tourism destination internationally. However, the promotion activity shouldn't be     left as a sole responsibility of the government as it requires the active participation of all stake holders.  The government is working in cooperation with Tour Operators and Hotel Owners Association to address problems in the sub-sector.  It is indeed believed that, it will bolster the growth in the sector. 

Moreover, towards solving some of the problem, the government recently has issued a law that allows foreign tour operators to work in Ethiopia.  Further to alleviate the overall problem of this smokeless industry, it is incorporated into the poverty reduction strategy of the country.  This indicates the readiness of the current government towards exploiting tourism in Ethiopia.

Tis Abay water fall