Ethiopia is hopeful that her Tourism will get back on track after being crippled down by COVID-19 and worsened by the effects of Tigray war/conflict. Ethiopia’s tourism authorities say the once vibrant industry suffered significant lost of about $2 billion in just the past two years citing the above two devastating factors.
Now, with the November peace deal between the Ethiopian Federal Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the Ministry of Tourism is ramping up efforts to revive an industry disrupted by the country’s civil war.
Fighting broke out in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region in November 2020 after Addis accused Tigrayan fighters of attacking the federal army and spread across the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions.
The US and former Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta and former Nigerian President and African Union envoy Olusegun Obasanjo played a leading role in the peace talks. The breakthrough followed rapid negotiations between the government of Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the party that controls Tigray.
The war in Tigray was marked by waves of violence against civilians, including massacres and rapes, by the armies of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea, as well as Tigrayan fighters, regional forces from Amhara and militias sucked into the conflict. The fighting endangered the unity of Ethiopia, a federal patchwork of 80 ethnic groups, which had been one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies before war broke out with an estimated 500,000 people were killed in the first two years of the conflict, while around 2 million were displaced.
There is a ray of hope after the Pretoria negotiations and now, Ethiopia’s Epiphany festival, known as “Timket” in Amharic and Tigrigna, and many others expected to attract thousands of Christians as well as tourists from all over the world. Its now imminent of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Tigray conflict and how the two factors have affected Ethiopian tourism sector in the past two consecutive years where there have been travel restrictions, travel advisories dwindling opportunities.
Members of the Ethiopian tourism sector now are hopeful the tide is turning with peace that’s taking root. With hopes of the peace deal holding, the tourism ministry is working on revamping the battered industry by possibly reinstating flights to cities in the Tigray region and opening up historic destinations like the town of Lalibela in the Amhara region where there are rock-hewn churches. Officials are also looking for other opportunities including luring more visitors from other African countries and the Middle East.
