Efforts towards exploiting the untapped tourism sector

Tourism is known as the smokeless industry with a huge potential to boost national economy. Many countries all over the world are making benefits out of the sector and supporting their economic growth. For instance, the tourism industry in neighboring Kenya is the 2nd largest source of foreign exchange revenue followed by agriculture. The tourism sector has exhibited steady growth in most years since independence and by the late 1980s had become the country’s principal source of foreign exchange.

However, Ethiopia, a country endowed with a wide range of historical, natural and cultural tourist attractions has been benefiting little from the sector. The country’s diversified cultural and natural resources have not been well promoted and changed into economic values in a way they support the nation’s development efforts.

The country is home for the vast array of tourist attractions that are found in the form of cultural, historical, archaeological and natural resources. Hence, if properly exploited, the sector can offer a lot to support the country’s economy.

Oromia is one of the nine national regional states of Ethiopia that are known for its unexploited tourism potential. Straddling across the very heart of Ethiopia, Oromia State is blessed with an abundance of cultural and natural assets of high tourism value that can further enhance nation’s development efforts underway. Read more