Ethiopia earned more than 39 million US dollars from conference tourism in the past financial year announced the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The revenue was earned from regional, continental and international conferences hosted by the country over the course of the year according to Awoke Tenaw, Director of the Public Relations Directorate of the ministry.
An estimated 49,685 participants attended conferences held in Ethiopia with most held in the capital said Awoke.
Conference participants stayed an average of 6 days in the country spending an average of 121 US dollars for accommodation, shopping and services he noted.There are currently 42 tourist standard hotels in the country and the Addis Ababa City Administration has been able to train 3000 hotel and tourism professionals in the last fiscal year with the aim to help enhance the standard of the service offered by the hospitality sector added Awoke.
There are efforts currently underway to extend the sphere of conference tourism to regional locations including towns like Bahiradar, Bishoftu, Adama and Hawassa to increase the national income from the sector he said.
Source: Walta Info
