A new e-visa service is introduced by the Main Department for Ethiopian Immigration and Nationality Affairs (EINA) and Ethiopian Airlines as part of the government’s effort to attract more tourists and boost investment. Visitors to the country are able to apply for entry visas in advance online, using a dedicated portal as of June 12, 2017.
Upon approval of EINA via the portal, applicants will be notified with an email message if they are allowed to come to Ethiopia. Then, the passport of the visitors will be stamped for the visa at the time of arrival in Addis Abeba.
“The launch of the online visa application will save time, energy and cost for visitors besides being simple and convenient,” said Tewolde Gebremariam, group chief executive officer (CEO) of Ethiopian Airlines. As of June 16, 2017, ten tourists applied for a visa via the new portal and all of them got approval, according to Tewolde.
This is announced as the country is struggling to boost annual tourism earnings to 3.7 billion dollars this year from 3.4 billion dollars in the past year. In the past three quarters of the current fiscal year, total proceeds made from tourism amounted to 2.5 billion dollars, dropping by six percent compared to the same period last year.
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