ETHIOPIA: State Of Emergency Affects Tourism

The Addis Abeba Hotel Trade Sectoral Association (AHA) and Ethiopian Tourism Organization have announced that they will partner to use new methods to minimize the effect of the state of emergency on tourism.

At the first annual Tourism Industry Day event organized by Jumia Travel on November 17, the General Manager of AHA, Ruth Luda, announced that a request has been presented to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and other organizations. She explained that even though travel warnings for Ethiopia were issued in some countries, this advice does not include Addis Abeba. (The AHA was formed in 2005, with the aim of voicing the concerns of the Addis Ababa hotel industry).

"The main issue currently raised by foreigners is that international insurances are not willing to cover their costs" said Meron Tiruneh, the marketing manager at the Ethiopian Tourism Organization.

In order to solve this and other problems, the ETO has changed the logo, '13 Months of Sunshine' which served as the tourism Slogan for over 40 years into 'Land of Origins'. It is also planning to launch a campaign on November 30, under the name 'Tena Yestelene', by formulating a five year strategy of raising awareness and image building.

"We still believe that Ethiopia is a great destination to tourists with high security levels", said Alexander Burtenshaw, Jumia country manager.

Even though it has been only a year since it started operating in Ethiopia, Jumia is a well-known online booking platform in Kenya and South Africa.