Tourism on Nile “The Mount Everest of Rivers” ABN; What is the current status of Tourism in Ethiopia? Sileshi : Ethiopia is a land blessed with a rich and varied heritage from over 80 different cultural traditions and religious festivals to ancient history, archaeological wonders and unspoiled natural endowments. Indeed, it is said that Ethiopia represents all of what is African in one country. In the past, Ethiopia’s tourism arrivals have tripled since 2006 from three hundred thousand to above 800,000 arrivals in 2017. Before Covid-19, Ethiopian tourism sector was projected to continue growing at 9% in the year. Instead, Covid-19 actually creates a fall and arrivals in 2020 are forecasted to decline compared to 2019. ABN ; What government interventions are there & your expectations on Covid -19 impact in Tourism? Sileshi: The pandemic has already limited visitor number & spending in the past months, and hurt businesses. Currently, the government of Ethiopia has started supporting the tourism
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Abyssinia Business Nework // ABN
“The water tower of the Northern and Eastern Africa”
ልዩ እትም 2012 Special Edition of GERD 2020
businesses through banks to offer loans to cope-up the challenge from the pandemic. I believe tourism could play a vital role in creating more jobs and alleviating poverty. The sector is an important engine for the overall economic growth of the nation. While some countries may experience ongoing challenges, I expect a return to the levels previously forecast by 2022. This is based on the assumption that there will be no further serious impacts from Covid-19 in 2021, and our commitment towards working in integration on taping the sector’s full potential, recovers the tourism businesses and wisely take-over opportunities which might occur from the pandemic itself. Yet, public private partnership is an essential issue to grow the sector. ABN; What experiences of using a dam for tourism purposes do you know? Sileshi: Water bodies are already the major turism sites and attractions. For instance Carabean countires are one of the well known nations in using their water bodies (coastal area, lakes,
