2merkato

Bahir Dar has the potential to be another resort destination in Ethiopia with more than 287 private and public programs related to the tourism industry at investment of 6 billion birr already in the works said Mulugeta Seid, Head of the Culture, Tourism and Parks Development Bureau of the Amhara Regional State.

Bahir Dar is central to tourists traveling to several destinations in Northern Ethiopia he noted.

One of the projects expected to attract increased tourism to the town is the new convention center with the capacity to host 2500 people said Mulugeta. The town is also building a stadium which can seat 65,000 spectators although the most striking attraction is expected to be the floating hotel over Lake Tana according to Mulugeta.

Ethiopia harvested above 218.5 million quintals over the main harvest season according to the Central Statistical Agency. The Ministry of Agriculture had targeted to harvest 205 million quintals of crops based on the projections made by the agency earlier in the year.

The crop yield was scientifically calculated from a sample of 2,273 taken from across the country said Samiya Zekariya, Head of the Agency.

The harvest is the total production of smallholder farmers and represents a growth of 7.4% annual growth in comparison to the same harvest period last year. The farmers were able to farm more than 12.8 million hectares of land to produce the current harvest with an average productivity of 18 quintals per hectare.

A new system to rate hotels in Ethiopia is expected to be on line by the end of the current year announced the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The ministry revised its rating system to match international standards on the basis of feedback from the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

The UNWTO experts concluded that the previous system needed to clarify the criteria better and to allow more time for hotels to prepare to meet standards said Sisay Teklu, coordinator of Tourism Services Competence Accreditation Directorate with the Ministry of Culture.

Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia’s flag carrier, has announced that it is to launch upgraded evening flights between Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar as of the 15th of May. The airline will deploy its Boeing 737-700/800 on the route.

Ethiopian is dedicated to supporting the increasing demands from the tourism sector as well as business travel according to the press release. The airline is currently offering flight services to 17 domestic destinations providing the largest domestic network continent.

There are two daily flights to Bahir Dar every day.