Ethiopia wooing Indian tourists

In a bid to renew its historical and cultural ties with India and boost its economy through tourism, Ethiopia has launched efforts to woo Indians, who otherwise come to the archaeologically-rich country only for business purposes.
"India has a lot of potential. We have many common things with India including cultural and political. We have to explore it and start working to get more Indian tourists to Ethiopia," Solomon Tadesse, CEO, Ethiopian Tourism Organisation said.
Keeping the interests of the Indian middle-class in mind, Tadesse said that they are working towards cost-effective methods and Ethiopian Airlines, the national carrier of Ethiopia has been working in this respect.

"A lot of Chinese tourists come here for business. Indians have been coming to Ethiopia for business but not as tourists. So we are working to get more Indian tourists and our national carrier 'Ethiopian Airlines' is contributing to this. This will be cost-effective and would help the Indian middle-class get to know more about our country," Tadesse said.
Ethiopia, in the Horn of Africa, is a rugged, landlocked country split by the Great Rift Valley. With archaeological finds dating back more than 3 million years, it's a place of ancient culture.
Since 1960s, many Indians have come to Ethiopia as teachers and have taught various languages among other subjects.

"Indians came in 1960 as teachers and taught different languages. In fact my headmaster was an Indian. So we have a long connection with India," he said.

Asked how the government plans to popularise Ethiopia as a tourist destination in India, Tadesse said that they are organising roadshows - which are a threesome of the embassies, airlines office and tourism organisation.
"We are organising roadshows in India. We are also inviting potential mega tour operators along with our local tour operators. Its a one-day drill where we also make presentation about Ethiopia's potential," Tadesse added.
"We are planning to expand the products and there is lot to be done. Establishing products include building hotels, lodges and other products. We are aggressively working for this along with promoting traditional Ethiopia. Ethiopia is also known as the 'Land of Origins' because 'Lucy' was found here," Tadesse said.

Lucy is the common name of AL 288-1, several hundred pieces of bone fossils that represent 40 per cent of the skeleton of a female of the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis.
Lucy was discovered in 1974 near the village Hadar in the Awash Valley of the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson thus giving it the name the 'Land of Origins'.
In Ethiopia, it is also known as Dinkinesh, which means "you are marvellous" in Amharic, the local language of the country.
The country boasts of various aspects of tourism which includes sports tourism, religious tourism, wildlife tourism consisting of over 2,000 species of birds (800 of which are indigenous species) along with the animals.

The country has also participated in various trade and tour fairs to attract more Indians, the last one being organised in Pune in 2013.
In terms of nature, Ethiopia is the fourth largest biodiversity zone in the world and claims to have more unique species of flora and fauna than any other African nation.
It has 20 national parks, four wildlife sanctuaries, eight wildlife reserves as well as 18 controlled hunting areas.
The tourism department is keen to know the areas of interest for the Indians and target them thereafter.
Tadesse aims to bring young Indians and make them experience the nightlife of the capital city.

"I would want that many young Indians come and experience the night life of Addis Ababa," he said.