Ethiopia has launched two new entities – the Tourism Transformation Council and the Ethiopian Tourism Organisation – both designed to transform its tourism industry.
The establishment of the two organs has been necessitated by the need to coordinate the activities of the various stakeholders in the industry, said Mulgeta Seid, State minister for Culture & Tourism.
At the founding assembly meeting of Ethiopia’s Tourism Transformation Council and the first meeting of the Council’s members, held at the African Union’s (AU) conference hall, on Roosevelt Stteet, on March 14, 2014, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who chairs the Council, expressed his hope that the establishment of the Council will help make the country one of the top tourist destinations in Africa, as outlined in the government’s Growth & Transformation Plan (GTP).
“For a long time, Ethiopia has been negatively portrayed internationally,” Hailemariam said. “This is quickly changing and we need to sustain our efforts to positively portray the image of the country.”
Established under the Council of Ministers (CoM) Regulation entitled “Tourism Transformation Council & Ethiopian Tourism Organisation Establishment”, issued on August 27, 2013, the Council comprises of members from different relevant ministries, mayors of the Addis Abeba and Dire Dawa city administrations, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines (ET), presidents of the Ethiopian Tour Operators Association and the Ethiopian Hotel & Restaurant Owners Association, president of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce & Sectoral Associations (ECCSA) and representatives of religious institutions and renowned personalities, among others.
The Council is meant to provide leadership and set directions for the country’s tourist destinations development and tourism marketing initiatives. It is also authorised to give necessary instructions to the concerned bodies to remove major impediments and challenges to development in the tourism industry and ensure their implementation.
Providing the necessary directions to ascertain collaboration and synergy among various institutions for the successful implementation of tourism development and marketing initiatives has also been defined as one of its duties. The Council, which will meet once every six months, is also tasked with setting directions on strategic matters that the Ethiopian Tourism Organisation, the other entity launched on Friday, will pursue.
Despite being endowed with the advantage of rich natural, historical and cultural resources and having nine UNESCO registered World Heritage sites – the highest number in Africa – Ethiopia’s tourism industry still remains undeveloped, as data from the Ministry of Culture & Tourism (MoCT) indicates.
In 2012, 52.3 million tourists visited Africa, out of which only 596,341 reached Ethiopia. That same year, the continent earned 34 billion dollars from the industry, out of which 1.19 billion dollars flowed in Ethiopia’s directions. Ethiopia’s tourism industry is earning less than other competing nations by raking 121st in the world and 17th in Africa.
“It is not too late for Ethiopia,” argues Mulgeta. “Ethiopia still has time to catch up with those countries earning more revenues, provided that it works hard.”
The Council was established with the view to raise the standard of the industry to a higher level, the State minister indicated.
For Woldegebriel Berhe, tourism promotion expert at the newly established Ethiopian Tourism Organisation, who was at the meeting, the Council will help to elevate the tourism industry, as it has the advantage of being made up of members drawn from various institutions, as well as influential individuals.
“Another is the decision making advantage,” says Woldegebriel. “The Council’s decision has the voice of heads of various member institutions, making it easier to be applicable.”
The ceremony also saw the establishment of an autonomous federal government organ – the Ethiopian Tourism Organisation. This will function as the secretariat of the Council and is structured to have a Tourism Board and a director general.
“The establishment of these entities will lay a strong foundation and help us in our efforts to develop the tourism industry,” Amin Abdulkadir, minister of Culture & Tourism said during the inaugural ceremony. “The Ministry is encouraged by recent growth of the sector and is keen to scale up its efforts to utilise the industry’s full potential.”
The Ministry recently announced that over 1.38 billion Br revenue was obtained from tourism in the first half of this Ethiopian budget year. The revenue was earned from 370,754 foreign tourists who visited the country. The number of tourists increased by 36pc compared to that of same period the previous year.
The Ethiopian government expects to earn three billion dollars from tourism by the end of the GTP in 2015, and aims to turn Ethiopia into one of the top five tourist destinations in Africa by the end of 2020.
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