Tourism Ethiopia, formerly known as the Ethiopian Tourism Organization (ETO), a government agency that is given the responsibility of promoting and marketing the country as a tourism destination, is under fire over decision to ban Ethiopian delegation from participating in international tourism fairs.

Seventeen Ethiopian private tour companies, currently participating at the ITB Berlin travel trade show from March 6-8, 2019, complained that because of Tourism Ethiopia’s decision, the country has lost its booth measuring over 160 square metres that it has been keeping since 2010. The country was restricted to 48 square metres, secured only by the effort of Ethiopian Tour Operators Association (ETOA), representatives said. The companies lamented they were forced to share the congested and small stand at the world’s largest tourism fair.

ETOA’s President Yakob Melaku, who is in Berlin to attend the annual tourism showcase, told Ethiopia Observer: “It is disappointing to see that we have lost our space because of the decision from Tourism Ethiopia that is supposed to market the country’s tourism products. It makes little sense when if anything, we should be increasing our efforts to take part in more fairs to attract tourists.”

He said ETOA has taken the initiative to organise with private tour companies to make sure the country’s representation continue because missing out from the trade fairs means that Ethiopia would disappear from the international tourism map. Yakob added that he had taken up the matter directly with the CEO of Tourism Ethiopia, Lensa (Aida) Mekonnen to try to change her mind on the matter but to no avail.

The stand, which Ethiopia used to own measuring around 100 square metres has been taken over by Planhotel Hospitality Group, a Swiss hotel chain. The tour companies are worried that they would not able to take it back even next year.

Yakob said that, despite the situations, tour companies managed to arrange and accommodate stands than the one equipped and provided by the state. The lack of planning and a missing Ethiopian tourism authorities were among the comments made by the private companies that joined the Ethiopian stand at the ITB, according to representatives who spoke to Ethiopia Observer.  However, they said Ethiopian Embassy officials in Germany have been forthcoming in attending the show and giving encouragement.

On January 5, 2019, the Reporter wrote that the CEO of Tourism Ethiopia, Lensa, on the post since August 2018, was harshly criticised for the decision, which operators complained was done with no consultation. The CEO then promised that dialogue with the tourism industry players would be reinforced by holding regular tourism forum.

Tourism Ethiopia started operations in 2014 and its mandate is to enhance the benefits of tourism in a sustainable and competitive manner by mobilizing and providing leadership to the tourism sector and stakeholders towards tourism destination development and marketing, according to the website. It also used to cover the costs of trade fairs and arranges for private tour operators to participate, until the recent decision to abandon it.

The latest official figure indicates that the country has earned 1.4 billion US dollars from tourism in the first half of this fiscal year (July –December, 2018), lower target but still robust. About 380, 376 foreign tourists have visited the country’s tourist attraction sites in the reported period. Commenting on these figures, Yakob Melaku said: “While this year delivered a good performance because of political stability and lifting of state of emergency, we need to remember that, as an emerging tourism economy, we need to maintain our competitiveness and ensure that we target those overseas markets which offer the most reliable returns in the future.”

Images:  Courtesy of Teddy Solomon of Tema Tour Ethiopia.

Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. Please cite Ethiopia Observer prominently and link clearly to the original article if you republish. If you have any queries, please contact us at ethiopiaobserver@protonmail.com. Check individual images for licensing details.