Ethiopia can expect to receive more than 511 million US dollars from the tourism industry this year according to Tesfaye Getahun, Tourism Development and Marketing Coordinator for the Tourism Ministry.
The anticipated revenue will exceed the amount from the last fiscal year by approximately 194 million US dollars said Tesfaye. This revenue is in step with the consistently increasing numbers of tourists to the country every year he added.
The trend in increased tourism has meant that the foreign currency earned from the industry has increased significantly explained Tesfaye. In just the last budget year Ethiopia has earned more than 300 million dollars from the tourism industry.The number of tourists has grown to just over the half million mark due to infrastructure development around tourist destination within the country according to Tesfaye. The increase in the number of tourists can also be attributed to national peace and security he added.
Ethiopia primarily hosts tourists from England, Canada, America and Germany.
Ethiopia will host an international exhibition of tourism and travel from June 14-18, 2012. The tourism and travel fair will be organized for the purpose of introducing Ethiopian tourist attractions to the international business community.
About 200 foreign companies from 25 countries and 300 local companies are expected to participate in the fair.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency
