Ethiopia aspires to boost foreign earnings from tourism, hospitality sector

Ethiopia is keen to boost foreign earnings from investments in the hospitality sector, according to the Ethiopian Tourism Organisation (ETO), on Thursday.

Hosting the 5th continental hotel show in its capital Addis Ababa, the east African country aimed to boost investments in the hospitality sector so as to generate additional foreign earnings.

According to the ETO, although the country is not currently satisfied with the number of visitors, it is hosting less than a million tourists annually.

The contribution of the hospitality sector to the country’s GDP is forecasted to have risen by 5 per cent to 3.7 billion U.S. dollars in the next 10 years, with an expected 2,422,000 jobs by 2026.

Yohannes Tilahun, Ethiopian Tourism Organisation CEO, said that the east African country has targeted the hospitality and tourism sector as its major priority intervention area together with the manufacturing industry.

The contribution of the hospitality and tourism sector, which is also an emerging source of employment, currently accounted for 4.1 per cent of Ethiopia’s GDP, according to Yohannes.

Despite Ethiopia’s push to boost its earnings from the sector, the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism recently revealed that the political unrest that broke out in 2016 had slightly affected tourism and hospitality services.

Organisers of the continental hotel show, Ozzie Hospitality and Tourism Group, also noted that Africa’s share from the global travel and tourism sector is insignificant given the continent’s potential in the sector.

“We have a lot of grounds to make before our region successfully builds a meaningful international presence,’’ said Kumneger Teketel, Group Managing Director of Ozzie.