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01-25-16 Ethiopia’s
tourism profile has been growing in the past years as it is observed in the
international media coverage and reports. The progress is an outcome and a
confirmation of the extensive works aggressively
promoting Ethiopia to fully exploit the potential of the tourism sector, as
can be observed in the rigorous effort and dramatic changes of the last 24
years. 
Since
1991, the Government of Ethiopia worked to remove constraints relating to visa
and customs regulations, with a view to facilitate growth in Ethiopia’s
tourism, in addition to tax and customs incentives to encourage investments in
hotel and tour services. The Government has embarked on a number of measures to
preserve and develop tourist sites throughout the country and to increase
revenue earnings from the tourist sector. As
researches indicate, it was only in mid-1960s that tourism was taken as a
potential area of economic growth. However, following the ascendance of the
Dergue regime to power, the sector declined. From
1974 for two decades the Ethiopian tourism industry suffered from the adverse
effects of a prolonged civil war, recurrent drought and famine, strained
government relations with tourist generating countries, and restrictions on
entry and free movement of tourists during the military government from 1974 to
1991. During this period, apart from periodic upgrades of the infrastructure
(such as airports and roads), there has been little investment and successive
governments have largely overlooked the sector. The
sector, in general, the cultural and natural attractions, and human resources
that form the basis of the tourism product, in particular, have been completely
neglected. Linkages to international tourism networks, both for marketing and
research purposes, have also been neglected. Lack of coordination between
stakeholders and the government resulted in poor infrastructure development and
under developed tourist sites as well as a shortage of skilled workers in the
sector. Generally,
there was lack of marketing and promotional strategy as well as low awareness
of tourism by local communities. In addition, the limited share of tourism
earnings reaching the local community is affecting the sustainability of the
sector and is having a negative impact on the contribution of tourism towards
poverty alleviation. During
the seventeen years that the Derg was in power, tourism declined drastically
because of the adverse conditions created by war, recurrent draught, strained
political and diplomatic relations with tourist generating countries,
restrictions in entry into and travel within the country. In the years 1989 to
1992, records show that the country received on average 80,246 tourists and
23.2 million U.S. dollars annually. The average annual growth rates during
those years were 2.1 percent for arrivals and 6.1 percent for receipts. The
basic measures taken after Year 1991 in order to realize the country’s economic
and social development have created favorable conditions for the nation’s
tourism development as well. Because the government believed that tourism has
the power and capacity to assist in the effort to eliminate poverty and
accelerate development sustainably, tourism has been included as one of the means
of implementing the country’s plan for accelerated and sustainable development
to end poverty. The
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia’s constitution Article 91 sub article 2
states that Government and all Ethiopian citizens shall have the duty to
protect the country’s natural endowment, historical sites and objects. Besides,
under article 41 sub article 9 points out that the State has the responsibility
to protect and preserve historical and cultural legacies and to contribute to
the promotion of arts and sports. Building on that the
Environmental Policy of Ethiopia mentioned the following regarding Cultural and
Natural Heritage Ř To
promote the perception of heritage conservation as part of, and integrated
with, Ethiopia's general social and economic development; Ř To
recognize that the country's heritage conservation should not be seen as the
responsibility of government alone and to encourage communities to play a
leading role in assessing and nominating places or items of heritage
significance and in conserving them; Ř To
promote a sustainable heritage conservation and management program that seek to
understand all the elements of the system, their interrelationships and the
ways in which each contributes to social and economic development; and Ř To
ensure that the environment of heritage sites is so managed as to protect the
landscape, the monuments, and the artifacts or the fossils as the case may be. Similarly,
the Tourism policy of Ethiopia issued by the Council of Ministers in August,
2009 gives due attention to: ·
Guiding the sector in a broad based
development framework, ·
Developing the existing and new tourism
attractions and products, ·
Expanding the infrastructure and tourist
services that are vital for the growth of the sector, ·
Ensuring that the country benefits from the
sector by being sufficiently competitive in the international tourism market,
and ·
Solving the serious limitations in capacity
which is apparent in the industry. Again, the Cultural Policy of Ethiopia endorsed
by the Council of Ministers in October, 1997 emphasizes on: the heritage
history, fine arts, handicrafts and folk art (tales, proverbs, popular poetry,
dance, songs, etc.,) of the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia are
collected, registered, analyzed and preserved from any form of adulteration,
and that these are given equal recognition and right to develop. The following are among the objectives of
this policy. ·
To enable the languages, heritage history,
handicraft, fine arts, oral literature, traditional lore, beliefs and other
cultural features of the various nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia
to receive equal recognition and respect; to preserve and conserve these and
pass them over to future generations; ·
To create conducive conditions to carry out
scientific research on the languages, heritage history, handicrafts, fine arts,
oral literature, traditional lore, beliefs and other cultural features, which
as they are constitute the identity of the peoples of the various nations and
nationalities; to ensure the prosperity of these cultural elements and to
enhance their role in development; ·
To ensure that all citizens can freely,
equally and democratically participate in all cultural activities and to enable
them to benefit from the sector; To enable cultural establishments to play a
significant role in the country’s program to bring in peace, development and
democracy; In terms of legislative framework, the Environmental
Impact Assessment (Proclamation No. 299/2002) is notable. This Proclamation
aims primarily at making the EIA mandatory for categories of projects specified
under a directive issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MEF),
formerly called EPA. The law specifies the projects and activities that will
require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The proponent of the project
must prepare the EIA following the format specified in the legislation. The MEF
will then review the EIA and either approve the project (with or without
conditions) or reject it. The Proclamation requires, among other things: ·
Specified
categories of projects to be subjected to an EIA and receive an authorization
from the MEF or the relevant regional environmental agency prior to commencing
implementation of the project. ·
Licensing agencies
to ensure that the requisite authorization has been duly received prior to
issuing an investment permit, a trade or operating license or a work permit to
a business organization. ·
The MEF or the
relevant regional environmental agencies may issue an exemption from carrying
out an EIA in projects supposed to have an insignificant environmental
impact. ·
A licensing
agency may suspend or cancel a license that has already been issued where the
MEF or the relevant regional environmental agency suspends or cancels
environmental authorization. To
put this Proclamation into effect the MEF issued guideline Documents, which
provide details of the EIA process and its requirements. Projects situated in
an environmentally sensitive areas such as land prone to erosion;
desertification; areas of historic or archaeological interest; important
landscape; religiously important area, etc. will fall under category 1
irrespective of the nature of the project. According
to this guideline all project proponents and executing bodies (agencies) in the
country should operate in close cooperation with the MEF to ensure that proper
mitigating measures are designed and implemented, especially for projects with
an adverse effect on the environment. This in effect means that an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) should be prepared by project proponents and be
examined, commented and approved by the MEF. The other one is the
Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage Proclamation (RCCH) enacted by
the House of Peoples’ Representatives to provide the legal manners in which
individuals, organizations and other concerned government organs would operate
in their activities regarding cultural heritage in Ethiopia. Accordingly, Proclamation
No. 209/2000 has defined the term “museum” in Article 3, Sub-Article 12 as:
“’Museum’ means a non-profitable organization which collects, preserves and
repairs Cultural Heritage renders service to the public by preparing and
organizing collections for their use in research, study, education and
entertainment.” In line with these, the
Ministry of Culture and Tourism under proclamation number 471/2005 is empowered
to consolidate the fragmented activities and ensure coordination of efforts
being made by government, the private sector, communities at the tourism
destinations and civic organizations, and to create a conducive environment for
these entities to be able to discharge their respective responsibilities
appropriately The Urban Planning
Proclamation (Proclamation No. 574/2008) instructs that unplanned urban centers
needs to be regulated and guided by sound and visionary urban plans. Therefore,
all unplanned perspectives and issues including tourism and heritages of urban
centers should be compatible with sound and comprehensive plans. Under proclamation No.
691/2010, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is given the power to ensure that
the country's tourist attractions are identified, properly developed and
organized, tourist facilities are expanded, and that local communities share
the benefits derived from tourism ,facilitate the studying and preservation of
the country's natural heritages and the development and utilization of them as
tourist attractions; ensure the proper management of wildlife conservation
areas designated to be administered by the government. According
to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) data, Ethiopia
registered an average annual growth in international tourist arrivals of 5.6
percent for the period 1990-2000, and 15.4 percent during the period 2000-2005. The
sector further expanded, the second half of the last decade with the
implementation of the PASDEP (The Plan for Accelerated and Sustained
Development to end Poverty), from 2005 to -2010, and the consecutive
double-digit growth. In
the four years from 2005 to 2008, average annual tourist arrivals were 324,664,
while average annual revenue was 167 million dollars. Reports of the sector
show annual growth rates of 21 percent for tourist arrivals and 19.5 percent
for revenue for those four consecutive years. However,
in 2010, while Sub-Saharan Africa’s tourism market share is only 3.2 percent of
global international arrivals, Ethiopia’s share within Africa’s share is a
minuscule 1 percent,
with close competitors
such as Kenya and
Tanzania claiming 4
percent and 2 percent of the same share respectively. By
contrast, South Africa has a 32 percent share. Despite this minimal market
share, nonetheless, the annual average growth rate of tourism arrivals to
Ethiopia was higher than Sub-Saharan Africa’s average. Therefore,
the Government of
Ethiopia prioritized tourism
development in its
Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP)
and tourism policy to optimize the existing tourism resources as a
driving force of economic growth for
the whole country. In light
of all these,
the government planned
to make Ethiopia one of the top ten tourist
destinations in Africa by the year 2020 with an emphasis on maximizing the poverty reducing impacts of
tourism and to change the international
image and positioning of the country. The sector should be planned in a
comprehensive way to foster the contribution of tourism on the general economic development of the country. The Tourism Commission was upgraded to the
Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MoCT) in 2005. MoCT has, at the same time, the
responsibility for cultural issues, which were taken care
of by the
Ministry of Youth
and Sports previously. Two
new entities, the Tourism Transformation Council and the Ethiopian Tourism
Organization, have been launched with the objective of transforming the
industry and based on the necessity to coordinate the activities of various
stakeholders in the industry. In particular, the Tourism Transformation
Council, was established with the mandate to raise the standards of the industry
to a higher level. The
Council is drawn from members of various institutions as well as prominent
personalities. In addition, tourist infrastructures in various national parks
are being upgraded and renovation work on roads linking the parks with major
roads and lodges is being carried out. Other measures include the protection of
animals from illegal hunting in sanctuaries and parks, as well as the
conservation of heritage sites. In a bid to satisfy international standards, as
well as provide world-class services for leisure and travelers, Ethiopia is
investing in the modernization and expansion of major infrastructures. As a
result, the stock of
hotels in Ethiopia has
increased sharply over the last
few years. While
tourist accommodation is
available as the
major attraction, improvement
as well as
new construction is taking
place. Overall,
the sector have seen major progress, under the PASDEP, the GTP, and the three
main national policies of the sector: the
Cultural Policy (1995),
the Wildlife Development
Conservation and Utilization
Policy and Strategy (2004), and the Tourism Development
Policy, adopted by the Council of Ministers in August 2009. The
Inbound Tourist Arrivals
in Ethiopia continued
to grow from
76,844 in 1989,
to 115,000 in 1999, 184,078 in 2004, 427,286 in 2009 and reaching
523,438 in 2011. The total number
of hotel rooms
and beds of
all hotel establishments in
Ethiopia was 19,025 and
24,083, respectively in
2011. A total of
37 investors have
taken investment permit
in Addis Ababa alone
to construct hotels
with star ratings
in 2012/13. Recent
data show that the sector's progress under the GTP. In 2012, 52.3 million
tourists visited Africa, out of which only 596,341 reached Ethiopia. In the
first half of this Ethiopian budget year, 2013-2014, the Ministry of Culture
and Tourism reported that the number of tourists showed an increase of 36% over
the same period of the previous year. The
achievements of the sector are multifaceted. Ethiopia tourism sector is
becoming an important player both at home and abroad. Domestically,
the sector have created 783,638 jobs over the last four years of the GTP period
achieving more than 90% of the plan. As the Ministry of Culture and Tourism
underlined, the massive expansion of standard hotels, cafeterias, restaurants,
souvenir gift shops, recreation centers, socio- economic service at tourist
attraction sites had catalyzed for the creation of job opportunities coupled with
the skill upgrade training provided to 1.5 million people working in the
tourism sector and in 110 professions of tourism sector. This
is merely the beginning. A transformational expansion of the sector is
expected. The prospect of Ethiopian Tourism is brighter and promising, as
several international institutions attested. Last
year, the renowned Madrid based strategy consulting firm, Bloom Consulting,
which specialized in country branding and business strategy, ranked Ethiopia
among the top ten in Africa. Bloom Consulting's report described Ethiopia among
"the notable trendy new tourist destinations which climbed significantly
in the ranking." As
the report explains the economic performance of a country’s tourism sector is a
key variable and the most important aspect in measuring that country's sector.
Especially, the average of total annual tourism receipts of international
tourists within a country and also average accumulated growth of total annual
tourism receipts of international tourists within a country. The progress is an
outcome of a sustained lengthy and holistic efforts of the government and the stakeholders
of the sector. The
progress is to be sustained in the Second Growth and Transformation Plan. As
the plan states, the direction will be: Aggressively promote Ethiopia to fully exploit the potential of the sector. Conserve and, work towards improving two wild life conservation parks and natural tourist attraction sites to be registered as world heritages, set-up and organize one folklore museum that represent the nation and nationalities of Ethiopia, increase tourist inflow significantly and thereby increase revenue generated, increase the number of certified and standardized tourism service providing institutions, increase the number of hotels that have international brand are the main targets of culture and tourism sector development. The implementation strategies are, work in coordinated and integrated manner with stakeholders, through Tourism Transformation Council generate more information about the sector by enhancing awareness through educational institutions and mass media, support and follow-up educational institutions and research centers to provide the skilled manpower required by sector. This is a national venture all Ethiopians and friends of
Ethiopia should pitch in. |