ETHIOPIA – A POTENTIAL TOURISM GIANT FINALLY TAKES AIM AT WORLD MARKETS
(Posted 27th July 2015)
Like it happened in neighbouring Kenya is Ethiopia now too reveling in the global spotlight after this country also welcomed its first sitting US President. Barrack Obama’s Air Force One landed in Addis Ababa yesterday late afternoon after he left the Kenyan capital Nairobi soon after 16.00 hrs local time for his 1.40 hrs flight to Ethiopia’s capital city.
President Obama is expected to address the African Union today as part of his two day visit and like he did in Kenya, there often mixing his candid observations with humour but never shy to call a spade a spade, he is expected to tell those present at the AU some harsh truths about opening up political spaces, embracing press freedom – of particular importance vis a vis his hosts – and respecting human rights. The just ended #GES2015 – Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi made it obvious that rapid economic development takes roots faster in an open society than when political spaces remain closed and human and political rights are oppressed.
While the Ethiopian social media scene is nothing like the one in Kenya, where the so called #KOT’s, aka Kenyans on Twitter, went into warp speed mode and gave the country a top global trending position during the Obama visit, are tourism marketers nevertheless expected to make some hay out of his presence.
Over the past two years has Ethiopian tourism taken a hard look at its own performance, which lagged way behind the country’s true potential despite national airline Ethiopian being Africa’s most profitable airline with the widest network reach across the globe.
For long keener on transit traffic has that however changed as Destination Ethiopia is waking from its slumber and working hard to showcase the country’s undisputed attractions to the world, bringing tourist dollars into the country instead of just flying them to hitherto more popular tourism locations on the continent.
From the five main game parks to the Blue Nile and its falls, cataracts and adventure activities like rafting to the ancient ruins and monuments which document the country’s rich history is Ethiopia today aiming to claim a fair share of Africa’s tourism arrivals. While much needs to be done to fully operationalize the country’s new tourism policy and marketing strategy, has an earnest start been made. The formal launch, with the support of UNDP, of the Ethiopian Tourism Organization on the 01st of July last year was a milestone step into that direction and ambitious targets were set, to double tourism arrivals from a mere half a million to a million in the short term, earning a round figure of three billion US Dollars from the sector.
The most comprehensive information – the government tourism portal website is still ‘under construction’ can be found via www.bestethiopia.com where destination details about the country’s attractions are available through the click on the respective links.
