Abstract: Tourism in Ethiopia accounted for 5.5% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006, having barely increased 2% over the previous year. The government is proving its commitment and willingness to develop tourism through a number of initiatives. Tourism is a featured component of Ethiopia's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which aims to combat poverty and encourage economic development.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism is the ministry of the Government of Ethiopia responsible for researching, preserving, developing, and promoting the culture and tourist attractions of Ethiopia and its peoples, both inside the country and internationally. In doing so the Ministry closely works together with different national and international stakeholders.
Subordinate bodies include the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH), Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA), National Archives and Library Agency, and Ethiopian National Theatre.
The Ministry publicizes the country's resources of tourist attractions and encourages the development of tourist facilities. It also licenses and supervises establishments of tourist facilities such as hotels and tour operators, and sets the standards for them. Ethiopia is blessed with abundant natural tourist attractions, including nine World Heritage Sites, but the Ministry of Culture and Tourism still struggles to attract tourists in decent numbers owing to poor investment, security, and does not have any cohesive tourism development or promotion strategy. The aim of ‘ARCCH’ Tourism Services is to enable tourists to find spots that only the locals know, giving the tourists opportunity to the tourists to explore new areas of the place like never before. This paper proposes find the scope for a personalized service for tourist “Special Interest Tourism” recommendation for tourists who travel within arbaminch & for the benefit of Foreign Nationals who visit the city. The major focus of the study is to understand the demand for such a service being integrated into the conventional tour package. The major findings made during the course of the show that the market for “Special Interest Tourism” based services stands at approximately 62.8%.
Title: AN EXPLORING STUDY OF THE SCOPE FOR SPECIAL INTEREST TOURISM BASED SERVICES IN ETHIOPIA WITH REFERENCE TO KONSA VILLEGE IN ARBAMINCH
Author: Dr. Kannan, Ms. Azeb Tamiret
International Journal of Management and Commerce Innovations
ISSN 2348-7585 (Online)
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