Lecture: The State of Tourism in Ethiopia and its Undesirable Impact -27.08.14
Presented by The Anglo-Ethiopian Society. Since the 1990s, tourism in Ethiopia has been growing and at present it generates more than 15% of Ethiopia's total foreign earnings. The UK is one of the most important tourist generating countries to Ethiopia, with 31,000 people visiting in 2012. In this talk Dawit will outline the state of tourism in Ethiopia and he will also discuss some problems created by tourism.
One undesirable impact is the consequence of tourists giving handouts (such as pens and sweets) to Ethiopian children. This may seem harmless but, in the long term, it may encourage some children to stay out of school as they wait for tourists at local sites. It can also create difficulties for visitors who receive unwelcome attention from these children.
Dawit Teferi, who has been a tour guide and travel organizer in Ethiopia for over a decade, will illustrate how visitors and locals can benefit from the rise of tourism in Ethiopia.
