Ethiopia ’s new tourism brand :"Land of origins " Launched
On July 14, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Hailemariam Dessalegn, launched the country’s new tourism brand - Ethiopia: Land of Origins - urging the Ethiopian Tourism Transformation Council (ETTC) to work in partnership with the private sector to “maximize the country’s resources” and "make the nation one of the best tourist destinations in the world”.
Ethiopia’s tourism strategy has produced some encouraging results, but the sector should become more competitive in the global market, the PM said. Priorities should be national parks, ancient historical sites and Ethiopia’s very diverse cultural heritage.
Ethiopian Tourism Organisation (ETO) Chief Executive, Solomon Tadesse, said it had prioritized marketing, capacity building and development of new and old tourist destinations, in cooperation with stakeholders during the first 5-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP I). “We strived to realise our vision of maximising tourism revenues, to make Ethiopia one of the top five tourist destinations in Africa by 2025. This requires achieving ambitious market growth targets, which include an increase in tourism arrivals at an average annual rate of 20% a year, a rise to 5 million tourists, [while] increasing receipts per visitor at an average annual rate of 1.6%, to $1,100 and increasing total tourism receipts at an average annual rate of 20% a year to $12.5 billion,” he said. He listed lack of infrastructure, human resources, accessibility and top class hotels among the challenges the tourism sector faced under GTPI.
The PM said the government, the private sector and other stakeholders should work together to solve the problems during the current (second) 5-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II).”.