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Today, tourism is growing vigorously and contributing a lot to the global economic sector. The influences of tourism go beyond the economy and affect the socio-political and cultural lives of people around the world. Ethiopia is one of the few countries with natural and historical tourism resources. However, much of Ethiopia’s tourism resources remain unexploited for various reasons.
Tourism has brought enormous economic potential to countries that have viable tourist destinations and wish to develop their tourism industry. Employment, foreign exchange, imports, and taxes are just some of the ways tourism can bring foreign exchange to a destination.
In recent years, the influx of tourists has increased globally at exponential rates. There are a number of reasons for this growth, including improvements in technology, increased revenue, growing budget, airlines, and consumer desires to travel further to new destinations, etc.
Ethiopia is one of the countries that has huge and diverse tourist attractions. It has beautiful land features ranging from the highest mountain, Ras Dashen, to the Dankal depression, one of the lowest points in the world, consisting of different attractive rivers with waterfalls, lakes including the valley lakes of the Rift and several caves such as Sof Umar. . These broad characteristics of the land gave rise to the different ecological zones that are home to a great variety of wildlife that includes both fauna and flora.
In addition to natural resources, Ethiopia is also endowed with magnificent historical tourist attractions and some of them are registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ethiopia’s most famous historical tourist sites designated as “World Heritage Sites”, including Harar Walled City, Gondar Castle, Lalibela Rock-Hewn Church, Aksum Obelisk, etc.
Dr. Atlaw Alemu, an economics professor at Addis Ababa University, told The Ethiopian Herald that tourism has a multi-dimensional benefit. Unemployment is a big problem in today’s world and tourism plays an irreplaceable role in reducing unemployment rates, improving the living standards of the society that lives in the vicinity of destinations and increasing the means to generate income for those who reside inside and outside the area.
Increased economic activities in resort-oriented cities can also have positive effects on the overall economic growth and development of the country. However, building and developing a tourism industry involves a lot of upfront and ongoing expenses.
Facilitating infrastructures such as roads to connect the capital with tourist attraction sites, expanding connectivity both in technology and in other relevant aspects, building shelters near tourist sites and the like are very useful to make a difference in all aspects peculiarly related with the tourism sector. All these activities require a financial outlay, in fact.
To further strengthen the sector and obtain the main benefits from it, the active participation of the private sector is quite critical.
Doing so requires the synergy of all, since the single effort of the government could hardly help the nation to achieve the desired change.
Without a doubt, priority must be given to guaranteeing peace and security, since executing each activity with serenity will be unthinkable without guaranteeing it. There are a number of independent investors, franchisees or multinationals who have played a significant role in the industry, possessing everything it takes to underpin the success of the tourism industry.
Culture expert Kaleab Belachew for his part said that recently in Ethiopia tourism is being seen as one of the economic sectors with enormous potential after the reform, of course. People in rural areas can easily acquire skills, according to the reform.
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Ethiopia is well regarded as the world’s leading tourist destination, although the sector is still in its infancy. One of the main reasons for the underdevelopment of tourism is the lack of attention paid to the sector during the last two decades.
Now the government is expanding and building tourist sites in different regions of the country. Since only the construction sites is not enough, showing the potential areas of the country for the local, regional and international market is equally or even more important.
Indeed, the tourism sector has emerged as part of the new development strategies for Ethiopia and other developing countries. Ethiopia’s intention to focus on the peripheral areas, which are outside cities and towns, as well as its determination to develop them well, will pay off profitably.
