Southern State earns over 66 mln birr from tourism

Hawassa, Ethiopia (WIC) – More than 66 million birr was obtained from tourists who visited the Southern State in the first half of this budget year, according to the State Culture and Tourism Bureau.

Bureau Government Communication Affairs Process Owner, Nigat Matios, told WIC recently the revenue was earned from 75, 299 domestic and 356, 308 foreign tourists.

Nech Sar, Mago, Maze and Chebera Curchura national parks as well as Rift Valley Lakes, stelae of Tiya, Konso chief’s compound were among the areas visited by the tourists, she indicated.

She said the number of tourists that visited the areas and the income gained in the reported period exceeded compared to same period the previous year by 76, 121 visitors and close to 23 million birr, respectively.

Nigat attributed the increase in number of visitors and income to the series of efforts made to promote natural and cultural tourist destinations and expansion of tourist facilities.