Ethiopia has great eco-tourism potential – Research

Research has revealed that Ethiopia has the potential to earn more than 20 billion birr ($1bln) annually from eco-tourism.

The Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority on Friday said that Ethiopia with diverse tourist attractions earns only 60 million birr ($3mln) annually from eco-tourism but with better services, that can be boosted to up to one billion dollars annually.

Though the country has at least 16 types of endemic bird species in addition to the other resources, the revenue it earns from eco-tourism is too low, researcher Mihret Ewnetu indicated.

Ewnetu pointed out that lack of sufficient promotional works of old tourist attractions has limited the earning of the nation.

The number of tourists visiting Ethiopia has recently jumped to over 1 million annually and activities are underway to achieve the plan to increase the figure to over 6 million within the next five years.

“In countries such as Morocco and South Africa that earn huge revenue from tourism, 10 percent of the income is obtained from eco-tourism,” Ewnetu said.

The neighboring countries of Kenya and Uganda also secure up to one billion US dollars annually from eco-tourism, he added.

Source: http://en.starafrica.com/