Tourism Ethiopia
in Action
Tourism Ethiopia Chief Executive Officer, Seleshi Girma has earned MBA in Int’l Business, MSc in Wildlife Conservation, and PGD in Tourism Management, and has got 14 years of experience in academics teaching, industry advising and government Leadership; he has alsoworked as tourism development advisor for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, for Addis Ababa City Tourism Bureau Deputy Head , lecturer at the University of Gondar, and consultant for international organizations working on tourism development.
How could you describe the existing condition of tourism in Ethiopia? Ethiopia has many diverse natural and cultural tourist attractions. Unlike other nations in the continent, the country has competitive tourism resources having high potential to attract tourists. Most importantly it is the leading nation sheltering about 12 UNESCO recognized world heritage sites. Consequently, there has been a growing trend in the sector. What are the main activities your organization is undertaking right now? Basically, 4 major things to do as per the mandate given to the organizationi. Facilitating the tourist destination development, ii. Capacity building of the sector iii. Promote and market the tourism resources and build the Image of the country. iv. Conduct researches on any issues of destination development & tourism promotions.. 08 Abyssinia Business Nework
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We strongly believe that tourism is equally growing in rural areas as it is in the cities. Agriculture is an input for tourism, and tourists love to experience the life in these areas.
ህዳር 2012 / November
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2019
Seleshi Girma Chief Executive Officer /CEO/
Tourism Ethiopia
How far governments support the nation’s tourism sector? Government is willing to support the sector by; i. Opening up of tourism studies in universities, ii. Provides incentives to import duty free items such as vehicles for tour operators, construction materials for hotels and even restaurants. iii. Enhance the private sector capacity to promote its business through sharing costs with the government, such as with my office. iv. Though very weak, tried to ensure the conservation of heritages. v. It tries to play a role in securing tourist destinations for visitors. Is tourism in Ethiopia different from other countries worldwide? Eventually Yes, i. The tourism in Ethiopia is highly focused on inbound tourism business. Aimed to receive foreign tourists and has ignored the business of sending out potential tourists from home to the outside world or at least
