According to the UNWTO handbook on tourism destination, branding tourism has become one of the fastest growing economic sectors of the world in the recent years.Published on : Wednesday, March 21, 2018
According to the UNWTO handbook on tourism destination, branding tourism has become one of the fastest growing economic sectors of the world in the recent years.
Governments around the world now understand the power of tourism to boost their nation’s development and prosperity. With more and more tourism destinations rising and competition for visitors becoming more intense, a destination’s potential to project itself on the world stage and differentiate itself from others is becoming important as well.
For example, Ethiopia is recognized for its huge UNESCO registered tangible and intangible heritages in Africa.
Even if the country is endowed with diversified tourist attractions, it is yet to benefit fully from the promising tourism sector, said Gezahagn Abate, Public and International Relations Director at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
He expected that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) would become a new hope for the country’s reviving tourism and entertainment sector.
In order to harness this potential, it is important to undertake various tasks on tourist services facility and expansions around the construction site of the Dam. Moreover, various infrastructural developments – road, telecommunication, airport, hotels and resorts along the route of the Dam are important in which massive investors are expected to join and invest on different tourist service rendering organizations.
Research is going on for the construction of tour and travel services, lodges, hotels and resorts as well as parks and recreational centres around the project site.
The huge artificial lake, which could be created after the success of the construction of the Dam, will become one of the largest human made tourist destinations of Ethiopia. “The Dam being the flagship project and major agenda of Ethiopians, is also currently contributing to the domestic tourism enormously”, Abate added.
Most domestic and international tourist flow has been to Gondar, Lalibela, Axum, Harar, Tana monasteries as well as to national parks and other Ethiopian unique tourist destinations for years. Now, GERD is on its way to become a new potential hotspot.
Tags: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam