The Southern Regional State of Ethiopia Culture and Toursim Bureau announced it has earned over 145 million Ethiopian Birr from more than 600,000 tourists who visited religious, natural, cultural and historical sites in the region during the last nine months.

Seblework Abebe,  Government communication Officer with the the bureau said more than 500,000 of the visitors are Ethiopians.

She said the revenue and the number of tourists exceeded by over 35 per cent and more than 39 per cent respectively compared to the same period last year. Activities carried out to promote tourist sites in the state, relevant training offered to tour operators, increasing number of tourist attractions as well as availability of infrastructure development contributed to the growth in the revenue and increase in the number of tourists, the Bureau said.

Tiya archaeological site, Lower Valley of the Omo, Konso Cultural Landscape, Arba-Minch Crocodile Ranch, Ajora falls in Wolayta, among others, are some of the attractions in the Regional State.

Two of the regions attractions; the Tiya archaeological site and the Konso Cultural Landscape are registered by UNESCO as World Heritages.

Source: ENA