Ethiopia's Tourism Sees Hope After Tigray Peace Deal
Ethiopia's tourism
authorities say the industry lost $2 billion during the past two years because
of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in the Tigray region. With the November
peace deal between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray People's
Liberation Front moving forward, the Ministry of Tourism is ramping up efforts
to revive tourism.
Ethiopia's Epiphany
festival, known as Timkat in Amharic, is expected to attract thousands of
Christians during its two-day celebration, which ends today.
Rhoda Berger and her
friend Fatima Arnous traveled from France and Germany and are taking part in
Ethiopia's Epiphany festival at Jan Meda, Addis Ababa. The two-day celebration,
known as Timkat in Amharic, ends today. It is expected to attract thousands of
Christians.
"I'm half
Ethiopian, half German so I've been in Ethiopia before, last time was 2020, so
three years ago," Berger said. "I was actually trying to come last
year but then I decided not to because of the conflict and COVID as well. But
then, yeah, I really wanted to and I missed it a lot because I have family here
and friends here, so I really wanted to come back and I was just waiting until
the situation got a bit better."
Her friend is in
Ethiopia for the first time.
"When I read ...
newspapers and when I was talking to people and everything, everybody tells me
yeah, you have to be careful ... . But I guess it's everywhere the same
situation and I wanted to visit the country and that's why I'm here,"
Arnous said.
Members of the tourism
sector hope the tides are turning for the industry.
Henok Abebe, who has
worked as a tour guide for over 10 years in the city of Gonder, the epicenter
of Timkat celebrations, saw work opportunities dwindle to nothing in the past
three years as the war worsened and travel restrictions increased. Travel
advisories — specifically from western Europe, where Abebe said a majority of
his guests reside — deeply hurt his business.
During that time, Abebe
and his fellow tour guides turned to local tourists. But at one point, when
Tigrayan fighters had entered the Amhara region, Abebe left to join the
fighting.
Ethiopia suffered heavy
financial losses from the disruption to tourism, according to state minister
for tourism, Sileshi Girma.
He said that, because
of impacts of the war and COVID-19, an estimated 2 billion dollars have been
lost in revenue as a country with the loss in business from about 3 million
tourists.
With the peace deal
holding, the ministry is working on revamping the battered industry. This
includes reinstating flights to Tigray region cities and opening up historic
destinations like the Amhara town of Lalibela.
Officials are also
looking for more sources for tourism, such as countries in Africa and the
Middle East.
VOA
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