Draft Tourism Fund Proclamation Under Discussion

ENA,March 11/2020 Tourism Ethiopia has been holding consultations with stakeholders and the private sector on the draft Tourism Fund proclamation it prepared.

Tourism Ethiopia Communication Director, Fitsum Kassahun, told ENA that the organization has finalized a tourism fund draft proclamation aimed at revitalizing the country’s tourism sector by making the industry generate finance from non-governmental sources.

Tourism Ethiopia is mandated through a proclamation issued last year to administer its own finance by collecting funds from the private sector and stakeholders.

The draft is prepared to augment the last proclamation by establishing a tourism fund that facilitates resource mobilizations effectively, the director said.

“Currently we finalized the draft of tourism fund and we are discussing with stakeholders about it, so  stakeholders and the private sector are very interested to support us upon the establishment of the tourism fund”, he said.

According to him, the fund will be used to develop tourist destinations, infrastructure at the sites, and promote Ethiopian tourism at international level.

In addition, Tourism Ethiopia will also establish a directorate that will lead the tasks related to collecting and administrating the funds to be raised upon the approval of the draft proclamation, it was learned.

“We are establishing tourism fund directorate under the organization as it is very essential for the effective implementation of the draft proclamation,” Fistum explained.

The director elaborated that the tourism sector in Ethiopia is dependent on the government. Involving the private sector to develop the industry along with the government has become successful in many countries.

In this aspect, South Africa, Kenya and Singapore have been effectively using tourism funds to modernize, develop and promote the sector.

Fistum pointed out that the fund is believed to be effective in Ethiopia as studies and best experiences from several countries have been taken during the preparation.

Financing tourism development is one of the pillars included in the 10-year Tourism Master Plan of Ethiopia which will be implemented up to 2025.