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Ethiopia: USAID Launches Ecotourism Development Program
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The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)
17 July 2008
Posted to the web 17 July 2008
Binyam Tamene
Addis Ababa
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Wednesday launched its new multi-million dollar ecotourism program, with the view to contribute to the development of Ethiopia's unique and potentially very "lucrative" ecotourism sector.
The five-year program will protect natural resources and cultural heritage sites, as well as improve the livelihoods and quality of life of local communities, said the agency adding up to 14 million dollar will be available for it.
US Ambassador Donald Yamamoto made the announcements on Wednesday at the USAID Ethiopia Tourism Competitiveness Workshop, also attended by Minister of Culture and Tourism Mohamed Dirir and USAID Acting Mission Director Nancy Estes.
Despite numerous amount of natural resources and "cultural resources the country is endowed with, Ethiopia is rated among the lowest in sub-Saharan country, ranking 126 in the world, based on Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2008.
Donald Yamamoto said Ethiopia needed to respond to ecotourism which he described as high income generating industry "The time is now to prioritize Ethiopia's travel and tourism industry, to improve tourism and ICT infrastructure, and to protect the nation's natural resources," the Ambassador said officially launching the program, a part of the USAID Global Sustainable Tourism Yamamoto said Ethiopia's advantage of its vast tourism potential compared to other African countries, is by far better.
"You have base to start," the ambassador said. "The country needs to promote its natural as well as cultural heritage to the world in order to enjoy the benefits of the sector," he recommended.
Admiring the workshop as a good opportunity for learning about Ethiopia's tourism, USAID Acting Mission Director Nancy Estes on her part said Ethiopia should take advantage of its vast tourism potential; where the industry is valued at more than $3 trillion dollars per year "We all know about Ethiopia's vast natural and cultural wealth, and we will hear how Ethiopia offers a very competitive price by world standards," she said.
"That's a good start for, the more competitive a country's travel and tourism industry is, the greater number of visitors and thus the greater amount of wealth can be captured," she said.
Nancy Estes said it was high time Ethiopia made sure the country's cultural resources and areas of natural beauty are protected "We must include the local communities by benefiting directly via income generating opportunities, capturing their fair share of the revenue tourists bring into this country, in an industry which accounts for seven and a half percent of the world's total employment," she said Nancy said the five-year multi-million program will aim to protect not only to protect natural resources and cultural heritage sites, but also plan to improve the livelihoods and quality of life of local communities.
"This program will increase employment and income generating opportunities, especially for rural communities," she concluded.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization forecasts that international travel will double by 2020.
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According to USAID, the USAID Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance hopes to channel a significant amount of this business to developing countries, like Ethiopia.
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