(special for The Reporter)
During his address at the 42nd regular session of Parliament earlier this week, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gave lawmakers an optimistic review of Ethiopia’s tourism industry, claiming the country has welcomed more than 1.3 million foreign visitors during the fiscal year.
The figure, almost 50 percent higher than last year’s, contrasts with accounts from people in the industry, who paint a grim picture of unemployment, dying businesses, and crippling uncertainty.
Many of Ethiopia’s most iconic tourist destinations have seen visitor numbers fall as a result of conflict and insecurity. In the Amhara region, where fighting between federal forces and local militia groups is entering its third year, sites like the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela are seeing only a trickle of tourists where there was once a steady and growing flow.
Other destinations in northern Ethiopia, such as the historic city of Axum, face a similar situation, while tourism figures in the south are also experiencing a sharp decline, according to industry sources.
“It has become difficult to travel in many parts of Ethiopia because of security issues and now because we need special permits to visit provinces like Tigray,” a European diplomat residing in Addis Ababa told this journalist, requesting anonymity. “That has made me less willing to travel and enjoy the country.”
Turmi, a locale in the far southern corner of Ethiopia, not far from the popular town of Jinka and the fabled Omo National Park, appeared deserted when the writer visited the area recently. The tourists who once sustained business in the area have all but disappeared, and even Turmi’s most popular attractions, like Paradise Lodge, were nearly empty.
Managers there told this journalist they depend on proceeds from organizing and hosting local administrative conferences to stay afloat.
A tour guide who once earned a dependable income from tourism in Turmi says visitors have grown rare, while unemployment has skyrocketed, worsening poverty.
“It’s not just in Turmi. It’s in every part of the region, forcing many of us to abandon the profession and look for opportunities elsewhere,” said the tour guide.
He told this writer that most foreign tourists visiting Turmi these days are Chinese social media influencers, who travel thousands of miles for a taste of rural village life and share their experience with their followers.
However, according to the tour guide, these “TikTok tourists” prefer to stay in cheap hostels and spend little.
In nearby Jinka, once a hub for tourists heading to the more rural parts of southern Ethiopia, tour guides say they are left with no choice but to find another line of work.
Negus Kiflekirstos, a 37-year-old father of two, was once proud of his role as a cultural ambassador, having accompanied countless numbers of tourists on adventurous expeditions. The work allowed him to support his family, but pay has dried up.
“There are no tourists and those that are still here work for humanitarian organizations, and they seem less inclined to be tourists,” he said, sipping a cold beer in one of the town’s popular eateries. “Tourists always paid us well, tipped us generously, enquired about the area and spent freely. But now we’re unemployed and have abruptly become a burden on our families instead of ambassadors of our community.”
