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Handbook of Research on
Sustainable Development
and Governance
Strategies for Economic
Growth in Africa

Kassa Teshager Alemu

Ethiopian Civil Service University, Ethiopia

Mulunesh Abebe Alebachew

Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia

A volume in the Advances in Electronic

Government, Digital Divide, and Regional
Development (AEGDDRD) Book Series
Published in the United States of America by
IGI Global
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kassa Teshager Alemu, 1975- editor, author. | Abebe Alebachew, editor,
author.
Title: Handbook of research on sustainable development and governance
strategies for economic growth in Africa / Kassa Teshager Alemu and
Mulunesh Abebe Alebachew, editors.
Description: Hershey, PA : Information Science Reference, 2018.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017016121| ISBN 9781522532477 (hardcover) | ISBN
9781522532484 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Sustainable development--Africa, Sub-Saharan. | Economic
development--Government policy--Africa, Sub-Saharan. | Africa,
Sub-Saharan--Economic conditions--21st century.
Classification: LCC HC800.Z9 S385 2018 | DDC 338.9270967--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.
gov/2017016121

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398

Chapter 21
Tourism and Hospitality
in Ethiopia’s Development
Agenda:
Action for Sustainable Economic Growth

Alelign Aschale Wudie

Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT
The tourism and hospitality operation is a lucrative but volatile business. Concerns about its sustainability
require utmost knowledge and skills. Practicable philosophies about people, economics, finance, man-
agement, culture, and political ideology are essential. The chapter critically analyzes trans-disciplinary
options that can assist responsible stakeholders to make and take remedial actions and classified decisions
for sustainable growth and development in Ethiopia. Fundamental but profitable actions that demand
a timely call for Ethiopia’s tourism and hospitality amelioration are explicated. Underlined is that a
destination should not entertain decline at the expense of rejuvenation. Skilled dependence on technology
can boost returns and scale up on indigenous resources to sustain a tourism and hospitality operation.
In a nutshell, a trans-disciplinary vibrant interaction of growth and development variables can create
and highly soar the hegemonic status quo of tourism and hospitality business operation in Ethiopia.

INTRODUCTION

People travel. They move for many purposes. I travel for many personal, national and international pur-
poses of circumstantial natures. As moving, we plan and implement. We also spend money. We spend
fair amounts of money for air, water, and land transports. We also use the money to dine, shelter and
recreate. Comfort is what every traveler/tourist needs. People can also pay for extra services of a variety
of many destinations. Tourists and travelers my buy goods and services to their demand from the avail-
abilities. In the process, financial transactions become the major practices and events in each tourist spot.
As people move, they move with money; then they buy and sell properties of the inter-mare needs. When

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-3247-7.ch021

Copyright © 2018, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Tourism and Hospitality in Ethiopia’s Development Agenda

people get enough money, they begin to aspire for new changes. They construct roads, buildings, and
bridges. They also modify each construction to meet people demands of a time. The buy or build new
and best hospitality service deliveries. They renovate old types to meet new needs. They also begin to
train new staff equipped with contemporary knowledge/skills and technology. They also install the best
technology gadgets and applications. Enshrined development endeavors in tourism and hospitality cannot
be delivered by few people though assumed to be highly skilled and experienced. It is a corroboration
of many stakeholders—a transdisciplinary job. The lions share should be taken by the government for
operative ownership and facilitation of public services and tourist attractions, for setting up sustainable
and efficacious regulatory policies and mechanisms. The roles the private sectors could play are also
immense. They can always create links among the government sectors, the non-government organiza-
tions, tourists, and individual operators of non-interaction nature. With a sole intention to make a profit
out of competent tourism and hospitality operation, they can always scale up the quality (attractive and
refurbished) of the operation and the infrastructure.
Ethiopians are known for their hospitality; they are polite, considerate, punctual, deliberately empathic,
apologetic, affectionately smiling, minding their manners, beautiful and emotionally intelligent to bring
multiple perspectives together. Their moral value is immeasurable. Ethiopia has the oldest history in the
universe. Archeologists proved that the oldest human nature and the mother/father gene existed some 10
million years ago in Ethiopia Africa. Lucy or Denqenesh—“you are splendid or amazing”, is confirmed
by archaeologists as the “true” and modern mother of the world. So 70 million years back from Lucy,
there were abled mothers and fathers of world. The geography, topography, fauna, flora, and spatial gifts
of Ethiopia gave the splendor advantages of tourism and hospitality business operation at zero level of
fear and regret. Ethiopia has been visited by many people from around the globe for political, religious,
business, material and intellectual advantages. Missionaries lead these categorical number. All religious
sects put their feet on the land of Ethiopians to disseminate their ideologies. Many missionaries came
to Ethiopia for various socio-political and economic undertakings. During the caravan and barter trad-
ing periods, thousand and millions of merchants have either crossed or exchanged with and stayed in
Ethiopia. Numerous explorers, authors, artists, government advisors, consulates, soldiers, and tourists of
assorted reasons have visited Ethiopia. It has been proved by the international world that many of these
people have enjoyed the highest level of Ethiopians’ hospitality.
Taking classified and perspectival issues of tourism and hospitality, this chapter critically sees trans-
disciplinary issues of thought and action of subjects—agents/actors in the state-society interactive system
(the virtual state system from the dynamism). The major objective of this chapter is to show what and
how thoughts and actions on tourism and hospitality could be framed and taken to boost their contribu-
tions to Ethiopia’s sustainable growth and development. The critical analysis takes the centre and the
fringe of (philosophical) ideas that matter most in strives for commendable change and transformation
for sustainable socio-economic growth and development.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF A NATION’S GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Extremist analysts blame that a quickly failed state exists due to non-functional operations of the whole
social and governmental bodies in some given periods. I believe that state failure begins slowly with dys-
functional systems operation even though people and state never fail to the level of dysfunctionality. The
stubborn socio-cultural dynamism can greatly contribute to these beginnings of collapse. The geography,

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demography, culture, religion, social system, resources availability and utilization, planning, managing,
implementing, monitoring and evaluation practices, the level of peace and security, specializations on
government and private sectors, the system of thought and people power/knowledge, the level of sanity
of the people, and the political ideology of the nation contribute many on either side for a state to move
down to base level poverty. That is, the disintegration of such state operationalization can disintegrate a
nation’s economy. Data manipulation by the government can also cause non-restraint dysfunction on the
systems of thought in a given nation. Poorly sowed state system recursively dysfunction for prolonged
periods which ultimately bring a nation down to a failed state and bottom level impoverishment. I also
claim that government sectors, private operations and non-governmental organizations’ interventions and
over-regulations of the state could lead to social crisis and economic malfunction. In a creased nation,
there will be no functional system, and no one could dare to work for renaissance and rejuvenation. It
only demands the citizens’ suffrage. A good example is the ardent awakening of China, South Korea,
Thailand, Singapore, Ethiopia, and Botswana, to cite some, from their deadlock poverty to a growing and
developing mighty. Promising is that “developing” countries are on the road to the rise though demanding
it has been. I also underline, here, that a failed state can rise again and sharply ascend to an economic,
military, technology and people power and undefeatable might. Why had it been so demanding? Why is
it still extremely demanding? Will it also be challenging or easy? In this background section, I will try
to analyze how demanding for a nation which has to grow, of course, to sustainably grow and develop,
amid thwarting factors of the pull-down.
In this world of chaos, the mass and the elite don’t know each other. The “We are the 99%” discourses
of the Wall Street political slogan which was wisely coined by the Occupy Movement (Krugman, 2011;
Van Gelder, 2011) attested this claim. Only 1% of the people are leading the world economy with long
and might hands. Our doctors have lost keys of medication and treatment to many diseased people. Our
technology specialists have lost the moral and the value to keep our (private) data safe. Our teachers
have already flagged “who cares about the dead fish”—their students. Our experts brought the financial
system down, and now it is malfunctioning. Agriculture turns into monoculture due to the tech-culture
which puts infinite flags on our genes. The level and kind of ignorance surfaces on the earth.
Attention on the kind and levels of ignorance, many people are becoming sufferers of innocent ig-
norance to life due to their developed traits of naïve, quaint and charm. The willing ignorance due to
the stalwart and deliberate persistence not to accept change and modify lifestyle is also becoming so
rampant challenge to this world. Very much challenging is the deep-rooted character trait of arrogance
ignorance in many people saying I know everything, but you know nothing from partial knowledge
dilemma. This is living with the walking dead. Many of such ignorant people stopped worrying about
the threats of this world and the threats they pose to others. The academia is also victims of domain
ignorance ascribing to restrictive discourses of territorialism, scope, and specialization, which they
always use the proverb, “A jack of all treads is a master of none”, to scold others. For me, a jack of all
treads is a better master of many. The threat to this fallible humanity is the enlightened ignorance, aka
Socratic ignorance, of becoming too humble for knowledge and skills to reveal to the public. Many people
may warn you if you speak about “untouchable”, “unsayable” issues. How dare do you ask questions
and attempt to about truth, God, knowledge, value, saints, governments, the beginning and the end of
the world, etc. Interpretively surprising is that people become negatively capable and ignorant due to
“learning” (Smithson, 2012; 1993).
The points I dealt with ignorance are intended to fight ignorance itself. Ignorance for change and
continuity threaten this ignorant society, and the level and variety of ignorance increases day-by-day.

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Tourism and Hospitality in Ethiopia’s Development Agenda

Ignorance has been very demanding and it has been a major challenge to nations growth and develop-
ment. Union of ignorant leaders, ministers, directors, managers, and heads in a nation (Africa, Ethiopia,
and the World) has boiled and burned the economy which will later turn into ash. Many types of ignorant
people will never console on issues of sustainable growth, transformation, and development. With avoided
ignorance, determinative for the development of a nation are ardent reworks on population, resources,
war (and conflict), natural catastrophes, human interventions, education, technology, and finance. The
population of the world is increasing at an alarming rate. In 2050, the world will be about 10 billion
(Haub, Gribble & Jacobsen, 2011; Lang & Heasman, 2015). This will definitely breed competitive wars
on mind, resources, territory, power, and technology. The level of chaos increases as technology takes
the role of humans. Cyber war as a platform—battle ground, will change the course and loci of the war.
Through cyber wars, human interventions will be huge; targets will be on finance—money laundering,
fraud, cyber crime, fake identity, huge financial streaming, snooping, money withholding, cracks, and
hacks. The incompetent people will have no money to live, let alone to develop. Many will be rich in
data bases. With each individual data, they can do “whatever they like to do”; “there is no place to hide.”
(O’Harrow, 2006).
Vitally worrying is that population increase definitely brought about resource depletion due to over
consumption and mismanagement. When there is a scarcity of resources in some nations and abundances
in some others, the mean and the acquisitive people and nations will intensify the competition. With such
stiff competition, there will be an inevitability for the internal insecurity of a nation and nations due to
resources war. With internal insecurity, the consequence will be continued intra-nation civil wars, inter-
nation and world wars. War tears a country into pieces. No one and no war have benefited the universe.
War is a ruthless phenomenon that destroys a nation’s citizens (of all ages and structures), the environ-
ment, resources, education, and the economy. War leaves traumas of a worsening nature. Only blood
and flesh mongers love war. There are many belligerently ignorant people and nations that provoke and
quickly indulge into warring wars. The level of ignorance to such people and nations is limitless. They
never learn from history.
Very direct a factor of tourism and hospitality, even though environmental catastrophes and global
warming are being aggravated by human interventions such as deforestation, industrialization, pollution,
fertilization “poisoning”, over grazing and over-farming, and big wars, to mention some, nature has also
been escalating the enigma. Over flooding, Tsunamis, Typhoons, and Hurricanes, Earthquake, Volcanic
Eruption, El Nino: unseasonal heavy rain fall, seasonal drought, continued and heavy wind blow, and
heavy snowing, large insect harbors, and epidemic prevalence, to mention some, are challenging this
world. With these challenges, tourism will never be thought at all. We the world is at an unrest, people
will be disturbed and they will never plan to tour. The detour will be to stay away from those loci of
disaster and unrest. A “safe haven” at times of turbulence will receive the biggest tourist influx and
enjoy the greatest level of revenue from tourism and hospitality, for that destination is the only option
in the whole world. This is the recommendable competition. Nations should compete to establish peace
and security to further think about prosperity. Human and natural catastrophes make the hospitality and
tourism industry hostile. Therefore, a hostile economic practice cannot be a worthy practice to a nation
which aspires change and transformation in multi-angularities.
A sizable introduction is also vital to ponder about interventional policies of the “big” nations upon
the “small” nations’ economies, inclusive is tourism. Why do “big” nations intervene? Intervention is an
economic competition to be hegemonic upon the others. The need to lead the New World Order triggers
some “big” nations such as America to intervene in multi-sectorial affairs of the many other countries

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even though stiff resistance and competition are met from China, Russia, India, Europe and many other
strong countries of emergency. The level of intervention varies from country to country, from resource
to resources and from demand to demand. The level of wisdom of intervention is very subtle, and it var-
ies from country to country. If a country cannot stand on its own, it will be a nation which will be like
“zombie movie, zombie stop”. That is, that country will only have to accept instructions [warnings] and
recommendations. That nation will be a nation like a robot which has to perform commands from the
hands of the player(s). Interventional policies are modern colonization practices. Interventions cannot
build unique cultures and identities. That nation cannot make a history of her own type. And tourism
and hospitality will never grow in a nation which loses its identity.
Counter arguments of a fruition assert that tourism and hospitality are vital to a nation’s socio-cog-
nitive, sociocultural, socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and socio-historical growth and development. They
can rejuvenate human’s mind and boost their thought productive power. They can heal assorted kinds
of traumas. To achieve and enjoy these phenomena of a nation, that country must strive to alleviate the
challenges mentioned in the aforementioned paragraphs. In the following section, some effort is put to
reveal how Ethiopian people, the government, and other responsible stakeholders cooperatively work
towards immensely benefitting from sustainable economic growth and development due to a flourished
tourism and hospitality practice.

ETHIOPIA’S TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY: ACTIONS OF TIMELY CALL

Destination (Tourism and Hospitality) Life Cycle and Required Actions

Taking tourism as a variable, people believed that it has characteristically distinctive and sequentially
inevitable states in the change continuum: discovery/exploration, involvement, growth/development,
consolidation/success, stagnation/problem, and decline/rejuvenation (Butler, 1980). Though the discovery
phase in Ethiopia is a never ending search, there exists a discovery stage. In the discovery stage, people
say that they have found a new historical site, a new culture, or a new attractive place. Some sites could
be categorized as a new place: tourist spot with lodges, forests, animals and birds, and many more tradi-
tional practices. A small number of irregular people begins to visit because the discovery may not have
the required facilities such as transport, electricity, communication, and water. The knowledge of the
people may be very rudimentary. The appealing nature of the spot may be low. The destination may not
be promoted for a visit. The intervention and control level of the local people is very high. Government
benefit becomes very low. This, I conceptualize it, is an unsustainable level. Cognizant of this stage,
Ethiopian people, the government, and concerned stakeholders should wisely and cooperatively work
hard on alleviating the thwarting issues of a destination under exploration.
As necessities of push, the involvement state begins with high contact and control of the local people
and district institutions at a small scale. Though the number of visitors increases at high contact level
with local people and patterns of regularity, the challenges of access, facilities/amenities, and media
coverage persist. Cooperative Exploratory types of knowledge exist in the tourist destination(s) though
the destination is attractive to many tourists, and planning and tour operation begin at hesitant levels. Bit
by bit, some tourist demands begin to increase, which also triggers an appeal to the suppliers and service
deliverers for involvement. Taking these opportunities of the dynamism in the second stage, Ethiopian
government should monitor and evaluate major issues of scaling up the economic advantages of the

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Tourism and Hospitality in Ethiopia’s Development Agenda

destination. Community-Based Conversations (BCC) about the destination, bottom-up and top-down
planning and implementations, collateral relationships with local and national investors and stakeholder,
and bilateral strategies with international organizations can boost up the economic benefit of the cycle
at the destination.
The pull and push factors from different participants: the local people and their competitive exercise
in the market, high tourist influx and their unlimited demand, many suppliers request for involvement
and excogitation for the market, government’s increased interventions, and international tourism and
market influence, will lead to the growth and development stage of tourism/hospitality industry. As this
point of the development continuum, trans-market partners cooperate, and they create unbreakable links
of a cyclical nature. The demand and supply sides of the economy would balance for freshly sustainable
economic growth. The safety and security of the tourists, tour operators, tour agents, and hospitality
service deliverers are very high and relatively standardized. These are the beneficiary stage of the tour-
ism and hospitality operation. Thereon, Ethiopian people and the government and the private sector and
international organizations must work hand-in-hand with for better ameliorations of the challenges of
the tourism and hospitality operation. Planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation shall be
done continuously and professionally so that the dynamism of growth sustains. The stage needs a tireless
rework on sustainability and boosted performance. It is essential to think “pessimistically” aloud about
the potential failures of the business. The senior operators of the business should carefully plan for a
rise in conditions of failure to bring creative and courageous ideas, skills and actions into the reality.
Otherwise, the famous adage of business operations and time management, “To fail to plan is to plan
to fail//Failing to plan is planning to fail” attributed to both Benjamin Franklin and Winston Churchill
will be inevitable.
After long years of development, of course inevitably natural, a tourist and hospitality operation begins
to saturate and meets the economic cycle of maturity. Stagnant operation continues. At this phase, the
number of tourist and travelers (visitors) remains the same or begins to decline, and the seasonality and
time dependence of clients increase. Tourism and hospitality become the sole big part of the national
economy. Infrastructures and services begin to wear out though the efforts to expand and extend the
destination continues. The peak of visitor’s number reach. The level of dirt and pollution increase. The
speed and quality of services begin to decrease. The carrying and performance capacity of the tourist
and hospitality spot reaches. Space, the ecosystem, the resources, the skill saturate to accommodate mar-
ginal visitors. Experienced staff begins to be lousy, and naïve staff clash/conflict with the long-served
staff. Supply-customers begin to break their promises and commitments. The level and frequency of
complaints from customers/clients increase. The power of competition from emerging/newly discovered
spots (tourism and hospitality) increase. The panoramic and aromatic status of the tourist destination
and the hospitality operation decrease (stinky environment prevails). Accommodations, transportations,
and amenities become worn out, old-fashioned, shaky, and unfit to the circumstances; i.e. it will have
over-commercialized infrastructures. As a result, profit begins to decline. The psychology of the business
operators erode. The tendency to withdraw from the industry increases. Criminal people may appear:
thieves, corrupts, ownership claimers, etc. So the exit-remain tensions increase.
When a tourism and hospitality business operator feels these ailment symptoms, critical decision
and remedial action should be taken. The skilled operator should work to make the tourist area very
popular. Actions to take are making on attractions on the physical beauty—the setting & design, innovat-
ing multi-type visitor activities, paving the ways, increasing the diversity of both socio-cultural, natural
and artificial tourism resources, highly working on information diffusion and propagation, estimating

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the affordability of the business operation (making a cost-benefit analysis), working on the political
and infrastructural accessibility of the markets with concerned stakeholders, establishing the insurance
systems, boosting the safety and security of the business operation, rebuilding the positive image and
success stories of the destination, and delivering trainings on the level of hospitality and skills of han-
dling business to the local community.
With all these intricacies of the hotel and tourism industry, stakeholders stand at the cross roads. They
have to take to equally challenging responsibilities and decisions: the decisions to spend a huge amount
of money to rejuvenate the declining business or accept the decline and withdraw from the endeavored.
These are the challenging phases of the business that many tourism and hospitality operators inevitably
meet on the bypass. Some of the challenges are like hurricanes and typhoons that quickly destroy the
tourism and hospitality business and pass for a long “calm down” period. As entrepreneurs/business
operators enjoy a high level of success, they also fail. Because a failing move in business is part-and-
parcel of life. Business falls and rises. Hospitality and tourism business is the sole volatile business type
in the world. However, only fear can put business operators you down and hold them back from the rise.
Many quickly crash and never give a second try, but those daring ones who tried far more succeeded
made it sustainable. For example, restaurants may fail due to lack of original ideas, bad business part-
nership relations, unpredictable offer of operation, very rudimentary/poor knowledge and skills about
competition and marketing, infrequent and poor promotion/publicity, very small start-up and paid up
capital, wrong spot and fit, poor planning and operation, weak suppliers relationship, unskilled employ-
ment and staff relationship, poor inventory and resources management, high rent and interest rates of
loans, socio-culturally unfitting services, irregular quality and monotonous services, and technophobia,
to mention some. So what are the strategies and skills required to take actions on sustaining a business
operation and raising a failed business (in this case, tourism and hospitality business)?

Tech-Lead Tourism and Hospitality Operation

The improved habit of people for travel, explorations, trips, touring and dining outside has made an
attractively forced bloom-boom in the hospitality and tourism industry via the world in sophisticated
networks. This has also led many managers, innovators, investors and the line staff to strive for an easy
made it access and a safe, secured, and comfortable movement and accommodation. Technological
innovations such as the Wi-Fi, remote sensing, cable and non-cable networking, telephone, computer,
iPad, iPTelevision, internet, photo-video cameras, security cameras, magnetic keys, Property /Content
Management Software (P/CMS), file transfer applications and the print media in various forms and
patterns have gigantically transformed the long-waiting and bulky traditional means of communication
into an easy to “touch and embrace” micro- and nanoseconds. Even though technology plays a signifi-
cant role in every department and service, its function is very palatable to the tourism and hospitality
industry as this industry is people safety, security and prosperity oriented while moving to “strange”
destinations and accommodations. Business/revenue oriented technologies are making jobs and life
very much easier by avoiding paper stockpiles, freeing drawers and tight offices, minimizing long and
tiresome mathematical operations and data analyses, saving a lot of time, improving travel and accom-
modation efficiency, and so on. On marketing and communications, technology changed the dynamism
of branding, advertising, promotion, public relation, and publicity which is becoming very easy but
challenging due to the colossal availability which impacted people suffer from the choice dilemma. As
a result, business operators and the consumer’s dimension is making a leap in the immediate abandon-

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Tourism and Hospitality in Ethiopia’s Development Agenda

ing of the outdated and swiftly shifting into the updated as tasks to be checked in, approved and done
in microseconds, minutes, hours or days. Clearly understandable, the postponements and abandons
have been costing the tourism and hospitality industry, organization, company, or individual operators
mammoth amounts of money (capital) and with a peel it out of the business circle factor. Ultimately, its
profiles will be temporarily or permanently deleted out of the hospitality-tourism business continuum.
The level of stiff competition has forcefully appeased the business operators or owners, in our case, the
hospitality and travel industry, from the business and benefits fit according to the timely demand of
running the business. Edwards (2012, p. 1) asserted, taking hotel operation as an example, that to make
a hotel more relevant than stiff competing hotels:

the convincing search engines that a hotel’s website should be ranked at the top of the searches were,
at first, surprising to me and then following the surprise came that satisfying the feeling of ‘yes, this all
makes sense;…the two key tactics for this are…Optimized Local Listings and Unique Relevant Links.

Edwards’ fundamental options—“key tactics” are market competitions in hotels. It is not putting a
business in the loop of search engines, but pinning it comes out at the first hit of a single word, phrase or
sentence in search engines in need magnifying the enormous value of technology for the future genera-
tion. Cohen (2013) revealed that the social media, contemporary apps and other forms of high-tech are
safe-fast driving the hospitality industry and the ease of operation for revenue maximization. The scholar
explained that the espousing of emerging technologies in the hospitality industry truly pays back better
profits and maximizes the general revenue. The comprehensive idea of the hospitality operation hysterias
are hiring an external company for our marketing and communication using the internet, ill-decision of
how much time are you going to use a day, spreading the time of using a social (or any)/media, and the
indistinct strategy of using the technology in the hospitality industry. Not having a place online to the
hospitality business, ill-training/recruiting staff members to respond online and appropriately use the
established technology, and hiring/paying others to fix our problems of the technology in operation are
the huge losses in a hospitality operation. Not properly handling and denying about posts, twits, emails,
etc., “doing” for the sake of doing it, not “just doing it now!” and much more are observable and handy
challenges of technology utilization in the hospitality industry worldwide.
McIndoe (2013) argue that the technology trends that revolutionaries the hospitality industry are the
emergence of various software and apps, the mobility nature of Laptops, Tablets, iPhone, iPod, iPad,
and many more smart and “mobile” phones with the Wi-Fi platform. Vitally essential are the swift-
ness nature of and the boom in social media: Facebook, Twitter, Weibo, Google+, YouTube, Skype,
Instagram, LinkedIn, Digg, Flicker, blog, etc. The bloom on the online interactive and booking sites:
TripAdvisor, hotel.com, bookit.com, reservations.com, chech-in.com, kaya.com, accommodations.
com, travel.com, express.com, ethiostay.com, etc. has increased the stiff competition of the hospitality
market. The interactive transactions of banks and other service delivery partners will gigantically spur
hospitality and tourism marketization. Personalized systems and integrations of technology, globalized
nature of the hospitality industry operation, emergence of high-tech revenue and cost operation systems,
and installation of sophisticated safety and security technology enforced tourism and accommodation
industry to fast indulge in the dynamism. In regards, it has been found out that billions of very active
users on the colossal social media: Whatsapp, Imo, Viver, YouTube, Weibo, Skype, Facebook, Twit-
ter, LinkedIn, G+ and other emerging social network platforms suggest now as the time to explore how
users can innovatively boost the intra—inter—cross—communication process both in terms of general

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Tourism and Hospitality in Ethiopia’s Development Agenda

advice, independent service and in the longer terms supporting accommodations, travel assistances, or
even medical assistance circumstances.
The knowledge/skill of using up-to-date technology in hospitality industries has the smallest level
achievement records. Hence, meticulous training, promotion and publicity and modeling of the achieve-
ments in post-tech hospitality could bring change forward. Huge cost of installation, training, staffing,
maintenance, tiresomely frequent updating, and related tech-agonies are making the hospitality inves-
tors technophobic. The amoral and immoral tech-spider-web-hackers and crackers immersed hospital-
ity operators into the deepest ocean of fear and stress. Nevertheless, the habitual operation owners and
managers to exploit the available human power with “business as usual”. The hospitality business hooked
the eye of and affiliation to invest in the booming country, Ethiopia. It is a move to use resuming fertile
grounds of growth/transformation which has made Ethiopia faceoff from known poverty, malnutrition,
underdevelopment, etc. for history. The already functional hotels and the hotels under construction are
outrageously making Addis Ababa very crowded but optional. They are skyscrapers and big gardens. “At-
tractive investment policy” of Ethiopia has ever motivated many of the rich to join the tide. Nevertheless,
most hospitality operators are technophobic (Alelign, 2013). The trends and coverage of technology in
optimizing comfortable services in most hospitality spots and institutions is at their traditional carica-
ture. The pace of service and the quality of professionals in the hospitality operation is still staggering.
Hymanson (2013) exposed that a certified hospitality operation has to ensure the safety and security
of its guests, customers, employees and the environment. Protection of the visible and invisible prop-
erties of humanity, resources and the environment symbiotic of a hospitality will undoubtedly ensure
scaled-up statuesque of the hospitality operation (hotel, tour agent and operator, club/lounge/grocery,
pension, restaurant, cafeteria, etc.). According to this security specialist, resource shall be allocated
for mitigation of any flaw and crime. Hymanson added, “common vulnerabilities would be the lone
physical attack on Hotel guests and employees, theft of merchandise and services, injuries, and claims
due to both real and alleged circumstances and the devastating effect of fire and natural disaster”(2013,
p. 1). This is because the risk of hotels and many more tourist spots are very high if not curved very
recently and collaboratively. Among these are hospitality technology in equipping the overall process
of the operation. Installing the hospitality-tech and perfect training of all the staff functional is really
required. The recent trends of technology in hospitality, according to Horner (2014) with a “rise and
rise” but with the quickest decrease ever, are operational by finger-counted non-risk-aversive investors.
Those on duty hospitality-tech (of the year 2012) are the Wi-Fi, iPad, Samsung Galaxy, Kindle fire
(and many more tablets and smart phones), Mobility, Cloud computing, Social media, Hosted PABX,
Energy Management (EM) and Lightning. For the emergence of the hospitality, technology is going to
redefine the hospitality operation and the guest cycle; the variety of applications and operation platforms
are going to reconstruct the hospitality operation and guest handling. These technology and platforms
have not been easily accepted and installed. The cost of establishments and the suspicion of risks and
functionality were all very crucial. Hospitality owners and their managers are not comprehensive in ac-
ceptances and utilization of technologies. Grossman (2013) reports, with new versions of hotel design,
tech-system, and fierce competition, innovation is sluggish. Grossman asserted that restating the scarcity
in expansion and distribution of the media, technology outreach in the hospitality industry via the guests,
customers. The way media is handled and trusted in the outreach process is challenging. The dynamic
generation of technology and the media are making the hospitality business operation very sensitive-
put on between win and loss. As a remedy creating unique guest experience stories, intact value and/or
deal, defined understanding (knowing) of the target with the old-built relationship and playing the host

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(first-hand experience) of the media and the agents. Technology, as a tactic twist in hospitality opera-
tions competitiveness fit, can be played in various spins.
Horwell (2014) revealed, for a new demographic shift of thinking outside the territory, doing mar-
keting outside the competitive set is not rocket science; any hotel can learn to do it; think outside our
existing sales channels; discounts aren’t the answer; value is the new luxe - emphasize value, not luxury;
budgeting properties must focus on convenience; put our own website first; and times are a-changing; it’s
time to look forward. The state of mind determines the vitality and prosperity of a hospitality technol-
ogy based on specific, measurable, achievable, reliable and time-bounded (hence forth, SMART) goals
(Bermont, 2014). Bermont added that prosperous, reliable, resourceful, creative, focused, ambitious,
confident, trustworthy and determined mind set is a key to all success in hospitality technology and busi-
ness operations. Designing a hospitality of tech-fit is unquestionable for peace, security, and prosperity
in a certain country, hospitality destination. West (2014) argued that careful technology choice can boost
up the bottom line of a hospitality operation.
West’s argument of tech-choice for employee efficiency/effectiveness, colossal revenue generation
and budget allocation, revenue and property management systems, purchase, cost, sales and inventory
control systems, energy, and biodiversity management systems are very crucial in hospitality. In any
situation, best opportunities and options should fit with required systems. This will “certainly allow for
a more methodical approach to selection and consequently should lead businesses in the most sensible
direction” (West, 2014). Gould (2014) claimed, competing for choice quandaries of a “cookie-cutter”
or “one size fits all” syndrome against the “wow me” or “show me something special”- though the lat-
ter ultimately beats the former, in the hospitality operation have been staggering down the business and
its improvement fit. Gould asserted that the winners in hospitality industries know that “it is all about
the guests - attention to detail and attention what they want”. Unity of design, procurement, technology
and human power must be in harmony (Hill, 2014). Careful synchronization of the plant’s internal and
external design, color and accessibility, technology, and staff fit are essential in today’s stiff competition
of hospitality business for a winning game.
Sustainable tourism and hospitality industry cannot flourish in Ethiopia with a commitment to invest in
sophisticated technologies. As tech-challenges, technology innovation and utilization are truly incongru-
ent. The slow pace and poor assimilation within techno-hospitality are observed. Total immersion, though
expected, is pulled for the technophobic trait of the hospitality operators. Hence, the future of globally
standard hospitality operation with a fit in emerging technologies is under question. It safe to understand
that recently opened hospitality operations attempted to integrate their business with techno-designed
frameworks. However, relatively older plants and personnel are very resistant to synchronize their business
and publicity with technology. Location, managerial style, running capital, business wisdom, knowledge
of technology, strive for maximum customer satisfaction, the focus of the business, team-working spirits,
staffing, and general ownership are greatly affecting the modern operationalization of tailored technol-
ogy utilization. The reverse discourses are the anti-node discourses of obscurity. Technology produce
countries (e.g. China) are also creating challenges for quality, guaranteed technology installation, and
operationalization. A mimic-tech world happens technology trust in the fragile industry, the hospitality
industry. The major manacles of the hospitality industry are the hyper-immoral vandalisms in technol-
ogy fraudulence due to hackers, crackers, and intruders. Technology and inter-hospitality marketing in
synchronization are the inverted wisdom in Ethiopia. Stubborn pride in our previous wisdom and inno-
vation, great deeds, culture and the related practices hold us for a steadfast-backwardness. Surprisingly
enough, all the hospitality operations in Addis Ababa have the same character traits; one is a fellow for

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the other. They have a failure-failure or a raise-raise symbiotic relationship. These relationships are not
due to technology but are due to rumors and business strategy copies.
Recommendable are reducing complexity, increasing system availability and obtaining business
relevant data to market and run the tourism and hospitality operations effectively—efficiently. Business
stakeholders should ensure newest technologies and their functionalities are carefully tailored to real
business needs and target customers. Mobile computing continues to have a major impact on distribu-
tion channels, customers’ shopping and buying of travel products. This can have a subsequent change on
guest booking, reservation, and stay behaviors. As a result, meticulous training and handling of mobile
and related technology applications are a vital necessity. Utilizing hybrid-cloud and non-redundant
technologies could guarantee customer and business safety and security for prosperity and comfortable
accommodation. The timely available firewalls and anti-fraudulence software use will comfort today’s
guests or guests of the future who definitely require increasingly personal, non-face-to-face, connected
experiences. The right technology shall allow tourism and hospitality operators to address three key
drivers within the industry: scaled up (safe and secured) guest experience, amplified global standard of
expansion and consistent brand value at all points of the hospitality contact.
Tireless training of the staff, adequate budgeting and investment on technology, comprehensive
technology installation and synchronization (interlinking), in premises operationalization of all tech-
installations (technology should not be outsourced), stiff fraudulent monitoring and advanced remedy,
team-working, branding within a license and positive discourse market competitions are very crucial to
run a safe, secured and prosperous hospitality business. The technology-fit designs of the constructions,
including energy and environment friendliness, are very necessary, for these will determine the future
of the hospitality operation in Ethiopia. Big government institutions which are the right-hand life lines
of Ethiopia’s development: telecommunication, water, electricity, energy, road and other constructions
design, technology, and security, etc. should work hand-in-hand for quality and quantity operationaliza-
tion of Ethiopia’s tourism and hospitality industry. The following ministries: culture and tourism, sci-
ence and technology, national network and security, costumes and revenue, water and energy resources,
construction and urban development, and the pool commissions and agencies should thoroughly think
about and include in their legislations the future of Ethiopia’s tourism and hospitality for technology
fit operationalization to assure its sustainability. I dwelt much on technology for the time is the era of
techno-business operation in which robots will handle all tourism and hospitality operations.

Taking Advantages of Beautiful Ethiopia

Tourism and Hospitality for a Rich Profile Country, Ethiopia

It is obvious that Ethiopia is the oldest uncolonized—independent, country in history and the primary
Christian nation in the world. Ethiopia is also the place for the first Hijra (615 AD) in Islamic his-
tory where the Christian King of Ethiopia accepted Muslim refugees from Mecca sent by the prophet
Mohamed who thought the Muslim brothers and sisters not to wage war and threat against her. Many
scholars: geologists, theologians, linguistics, and philologists agreed that Ethiopia has ever used the
Amharic language thousands of years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Sabian, Geez, Tigrigna, Affan
Oromo, Gaffat, Agaw and many other languages existed during antiquities. Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic,
multi-religious, multicultural and culturally beautiful country which is value laden and moralistic that
teaches the world about tolerance and oneness in diversity. Ethiopia’s unity was her power and Ethiopia’s

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diversity was her beauty. Many superpower queens, kings, queen of queens, king of kings, and powerful
regional lords have administered Ethiopians since pre-history. Ethiopian historians cannot accept any
type of ontology, epistemology, and theory of Migration of people into Africa. Instead, they boldly ac-
cept the immigration—the exodus fission and fusion, of Africans via the world. For this big reason of an
identity search, many tourists come to Ethiopia to either do some researches, observations and meeting
with their ancestors. It has been a travel to find the source of first people on the planet. Of course, some
missions are to disprove this reality. Towering Ethiopians and events in it have left their finger and foot
prints in Ethiopia. The Arch of Covenant, The Grave of Noah’s Wife—Emmete Aykel, St. Yared’s Big
Spiritual Works, The True Cross, The Source of Gihon—the Blue Nile, The Temple/Synagogue of the
Yeha people (D’mt Kingdom), The Aksum Stela, The Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, The al-Nejashi
Mosque, The Ancient and Medieval Monasteries and Churches, The Gondar Castles, The Sof’Omar
Cave, The Walled City of Harar, The Diree Shake Hussein Mosque, The Semien Mountain Nation Park
and Many other beautiful National Parks of Ethiopia, the Blue Nile Falls—the Ttiss Esat, the flora and
fauna of the Rift Valley in the varied ecosystem, to mention the pioneers. These tourist and traveler/ex-
plorer destinations will never align themselves with the Butler’s Cycle of destinations. People will come
and visit in the quest for their origin and identity. The emergence of Archaeological, Anthropological,
and Non-specializing (mixed) Museums gives short staying visitors opportunities to a glimpse of the
country’s profile; these will encourage repeat visit and deeper explorations with long staying programs.
Ethiopia has guarded her people against foreign enemies and intruders who have attempted to occupy,
colonize or make expand their empires. Instead, Ethiopia had expanded her empire as far as India and
Arabia in the East, Babylonia, and Mesopotamia in the North, West Africa in the West, the tip of South
Africa in the South with her movable loci of administration. Ethiopians boldly fought with and defeated
Babylonians, Mesopotamians, Persians, Hellenistic warriors, Trojans, Egyptians, Israelites, Indians,
Romans, Yemenites, Ottoman Turks, Arabian Caliphate warriors, etc. In modern periods, Ethiopia is
the only country that defeated “white super power” colonizers—Italians, after the Berlin Conference
on the “Scramble for Africa”. She had had brave and wise soldiers and war leaders. Ethiopia has also
resisted British and French powers who were ruling neighboring African states: Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya,
Somalia, and Djibouti. The “engulf and rule strategy” was very much unsuccessful. Ethiopia has also
maintained her natural beauty: the beautiful traditional and sacramental practices and the ancient moral
spirit connected and bonded to the dead. That is why Ethiopia will be visited by many people. The world
comes to visit these patriotic family: the fire sons and daughters of Prester John.
Ethiopia has very beautiful traditional, semi-traditional and modern socio-cultural, religious and
political celebrations, practices and holidays throughout the year. Gradually, these have attracted the
international and national community to enjoy staying, dining, drinking and appreciating the bits of
the tourism and hospitality industry. Consequently, people who have understood the demand and have
started to invest in different levels and capabilities. Very recently, the international community has started
to understand that Ethiopia is in the dynamism of the booming in the overall development and in the
tourism and hospitality sector side-bys. New international, franchised, and local hotels, restaurants, and
bars have been inaugurated and functional. Ethiopians love commonality and shared a way of life; they
have been accepting guests of a different kind—as a tradition and a religious taught. We had movable
and expanding Kings, Mesfins, and Emperors who ruled Ethiopia for eras and centuries. And the first
modern Hotel to be built in Ethiopian history is the Etegge Taytu Hotel.
As a contemporary propagation, the accelerated demand for investors in tourism and hospitality
started to eye on the central parts of Addis Ababa from Churchill road through Kazanchis to Bole with

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vertical and horizontal sites of Entoto and Shola mountains and the skyscraper buildings in opposites.
New hotels, pensions, restaurants, bars and night clubs, cafes and groceries, juice and coffee shops
are being opened day-in and day-out across these loci. These new constructions and inaugurations are
mostly locally funded with the little international brand mix. Currently, it is customary to see guests of
all stripes and African diplomats involved sitting by or linger around the coffee shops, restaurants, caf-
eterias, bars and groceries, lounges, night clubs and hotels of the multi-leveled hospitality spots. Hence,
the promising growth in the hospitality industry is normally the result of increased demand and a new
change in the lifestyle of the people. It is also the result of the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achiev-
able, Reliable and Time bounded) objectives of Ethiopian business minded people and hospitality and
tourism professionals. The construction and inauguration of hotels and other related hospitality services
in Addis Ababa City have made to double, triple and quadruple in the recent bygone years as indicators.
There is a sign of sustainable economic growth and development of Ethiopia.
The stiff positive competition in this beneficiary business is attracting a number of local and foreign
investors in the area in the coming few years. International brands and franchises and locally standardized
operations are believed to boost this industry and business. Hotel groups are expanding in this capital
because a number of diplomats and corporate clients are growing and the local dining style is chang-
ing. The tourism reports in different years have shown a leap increase in Ethiopia. This alarms what
the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the concerned stakeholders has to do a lot of home works and
assignments, as aspired by the Ministry to make Ethiopia one of the top tourist destinations in Africa by
2020. Taking the opportunity of this rapid growth phase, quality service-oriented business will win out
there at the end of the day; otherwise, customers will walk out and the hospitality destinations quickly
shut down. Ethiopian Airlines has expanded its routes via the globe to meet the geographically diversi-
fying consumers of the Ethiopia; a logical expectation is in the hospitality industry to go alongside and
guarantee this and similar business operations. Nevertheless, the hospitality industry has passed through
hostile struggles and turf wars, failures and raisings with regard to expansions and standardizations,
quantity and quality. The advantages granted from the Ethiopian accelerated development, renaissance
and growth and transformation, and blah, blah, blah plans have given Ethiopian people the “opportu-
nity” to manipulate the industry based on “their need and selfish business interests”—a poor merchants’
harvest. Many people and institutions have ultimately ended up into huge land grabbers, rent-seekers,
high-class corrupts, change and technology resistants’ and human right violators. Still many have been
careless of the actions to unbalanced-ecosystem: environmental degradation, poor sanitation, high air,
water and sound pollution, excessive energy consumption, etc. The market imbalances the economy.
Inflation has been soaring. The price of goods and services has been untouchable. Rent and private loan
increased successively. Subsequently, the economy badly staggers.

Scaling Up on Beautiful Traditions

For sustainable tourism and hospitality operations, Ethiopia should scale up on the year round beautiful
theological, cultural and national holidays and celebrations. She has to top up on activities on the beautiful
entertainment options. Ethiopia colorfully celebrates the New Year—Enqutatash, the Birth of Prophet
Mohammed—Mawlid, the Birth of Jesus Christ—Gena, the Ethiopian Epiphany--Temqet, Cultural Mar-
riage Ceremonies—Bahelawi Yegabicha Senasereát, the Easter—Fasika/Tinaé, Chambalala—New Year
of the Sidama people, Ereecha—religious festivity of the Oromo people, Mesqel—the finding of the True
Cross, Geda—the age grading appointment of Oromo leaders, to mention some. In the larger community

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of the Ethiopian Orthodox followers, the yearly celebrations of Holy Days are spiritually perpetual and
very beautiful. In the tribal communities of the roundabout, bull jumping ceremonies, cultural burial
ceremonies, cultural dance and music ceremonies, animal hunting practices, etc. are very attractive to
tourism. The daily lifestyle together with the warm hospitality of Ethiopian people is unique to each
walks of life in the world. Observations of conflict resolution mechanisms such as Shemgelena—local
go-between, Bela-Lebelehha—local justice mechanisms at a court which holds multi-type debate pat-
terns, etc. are very beautiful and potentially attractive tourism investment options.
Ethiopia should top up activities on the beautiful entertainment options. Responsible stakeholders
should implementation actions that can step up on songs of unity in diversity, traditional songs patrio-
tism and victory, nostalgic and national thrill songs that can powerfully attract the diaspora, songs that
preach eternal love and peace, songs that praise the nature, culture and environment, and songs that
value money, property ownership, hard work, time, innovation, and success. Ethiopian vocalist should
be encouraged to bring musical pieces of those that hatefully discourage corruption of any manner and
time, criminality, bad behaviors, mal-governance, and harmful traditional practices, to mention a few. A
variety of beautiful and participatory cultural dances of those that exhibit wish for rain, hope for a good
harvest, aspiration for holidays and festivities, wish for health and well beingness and many other variet-
ies that code Ethiopic wisdom must be promoted on all the available media types. Among these media,
the social, print, visual, audio, and audio-visual media which are both electronic and non-electronic can
play vital roles in the promulgation and activation for tourism and hospitality. The stand-up comedies
that truly show contrasting wisdom and images of Ethiopian regions among themselves and Ethiopian
socio-cultural history and wisdom with the international world are the other options of infotainment that
can definitely attract the tourism and hospitality industry (investment).

MODEL FOR A SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY OPERATION

Trans-disciplinary interactions in operating tourism and hospitality business benefits all. Ethiopia always
begins narrating her longest period of history and religion through archaeology and art. As a result, the
sociocultural identity and religious practices trace their solid beginnings in time immemorial. The so-
phisticated psychological makeups and the sociological phenomena of the people build up their level of
critical philosophy. These phenomena interact and promulgate one another through unique actions, events,
orders, and practices in semiotics, language, media, and technology. These are the tools that transcend
indigenous wisdom down through generations. One generation up takes the other through sophisticated
methods of input for communications and through traditional means of message transfer—secret codes.
The political ideology of the contemporary governing system eventually determines a nation’s fate
of growth and development. Functioning socio-political and economic ideologies boost policies, pro-
grams, and projects to function as planned and hoped. The political system, the ideological background,
and socio-interactivity, the recursive nature of a functioning political system and ideology, the level of
global influence definitely encourage the forward movement and sustainable efficiency of the economy
and growth model. These are highly transferable and applicable to the tourism and hospitality industry.
I would like to underscore that the safety, security, and prosperity of a nation, of course, a tourism and
hospitality operation, solely depends on the political ideology and spatial advantages of the nations. Public
finance, resources and business management skills greatly contribute to making the road-map of growth

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Tourism and Hospitality in Ethiopia’s Development Agenda

and development effective. The integrative operation of sectors (ministries, enterprises, associations,
commissions, agencies, etc.) with shared responsibilities and commitment to change nations is also very
fundamental. In this regard, the government has to invest huge amounts of natural and human assets,
labor and capital, and capability to bring an over hauling change. However, the tourism and hospitality
industry must not compromise for the past, the present and the future abilities of perpetual life and living.
When a tourism and hospitality operation begins to gain profit, systematic and scientific planning,
implementation, monitoring and evaluations shall be executed simultaneously. With a pessimistic look at
the potential failure roads, the scientific planning can work on expansion and standardization of opera-
tions. Technology will definitely ameliorate the operation by saving time, energy, money, resources, and
man power. Technology will increase the quality and level standard with the efficiency of operations.
Tourism and hospitality operations must begin benefiting from the local community and immediate
owners of the business. It has to create unbreakable bonds among religion, culture, psychology, identity,
resources, history, education, norms and moral values, the technology and the ideology of the functional
rule. The network of the systems of thought and of the mind should link-up the local, the national and
the international beneficiaries. If this strong link advances in the marketization, the industry will never
fail easily. The operation will have multiple responsible stakeholders, so it will not be easy to break and
disintegrate from the running the business. The vibrant interaction of money, people, psychology, culture,
religion, geography and the ecosystem, policies, ideologies, planning and implementations, and moni-
toring and evaluations will boost the health and efficiency of the business. Therefore, the industry will
be sustainable and dynamic. It will also hook up other business operations and ventures without hurting
its capital and profit line. When a tourism and hospitality industry sustains its growth and development
scale, it becomes the identity of a nation or a destination. And identity never fades easily. It becomes a
nation’s pride of power and hegemony. In a nation achieves a level of perpetual hegemony in business
supported by knowledge, skill, and trans-disciplinary bonds, that nation is a powerful nation; a nation that
can invest abroad; a nation that keeps the safety, security, and prosperity of its citizens; a nation that the
globe can trust on. These are Ethiopia’s dream. Figure 1 is an attempt to show these conceptual model.
The model in Figure 1 should be explained more in that contains the vibrant interaction of different
variables where the central circle moves the wheel of the mixture in the amalgamated, but cemented,
functions of the disciplines. Basic are history, archaeology, anthropology, identity, society, culture, reli-
gion, psychology, philosophy, geography and sociology. Actions, practices, events, and orders together
with semiotics, language, the media and whole types of technologies interwoven the fragile nature of
the above three fundamental groups of disciplines. The systematic interaction of these basic variables
of tourism ultimately raises the demand, supply, and need of tourism and hospitality business and ben-
eficiaries together with improved agricultural practices and modernized transportation services. The
temperature of the political body, the ideology of the system and policy of the operation determines the
magnitude and altitudes of profit, standardization, services, expansions, planning, acquisition, supply,
and growth directions and scales. Taken that tourism and hospitality business is at a high growth rate,
careful planning on expansion, standard enhancement, competition intensification, marketing options,
and perspectival integration of the business operation shall continue. The triangle model is believed to
dynamically rotary, self-adjusting to hysterias and calamities, and self-compensatory (auto-insurance)
to damages, declines, and failures. Brave dependence on one variable out of many options gives the
model high credibility to adoptions.

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Tourism and Hospitality in Ethiopia’s Development Agenda

Figure 1. Vibrant interaction model for Ethiopia’s sustainable tourism and hospitality operation

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Prospectively seeing Ethiopia, the tireless and efficacious promotion of tourism on a larger scale was
conceived of in Ethiopia from the 1960s onwards. This promotion was understood in the context of
development efforts undertaken by both the government and a dense network of varied national and
international actors and facilitators at different levels and patterns. Tourism and hospitality in Ethiopia
have also been very much closely linked to the production of national heritage in which antiquities and
wildlife represented the majority of the tourist destinations capable marketed together with accommoda-
tion. The economic potential of tourism would transform Heritage – natural as well as cultural–into a
resource, thereby increasing their relevance and consequently the number of stakeholders involved. As
a result, the careful production and change oriented circulation of images amongst the larger interna-
tional audience has been worth special attention of the discursive balance. Professionals through their
numerous publications and art works have facilitated the production of tourism and hospitality operation
tuned heritage which assisted in creating a powerful iconography of selected monuments, sceneries, and
wild animals. Accommodation ameliorates the fatigue scenes of tourism. With such amelioration, the
destination capacity of the Stela of Aksum, the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, the Blue Nile falls,
the Walia Ibex, the Obelisks of Gondar, the Stones of Tiya, and many more heritages that had inherent
recognitions and values ultimately increased and proved to be very attractive beyond the tourism sector
and would soon serve government representation and the communication of international organisations.

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They are the ambassadors of Ethiopia. This is sustainable tourism and hospitality practice. If a tourism
and hospitality operation sustains, growth and development can sustainably depend on these industries.
Nevertheless, it is possible to deduce that the relevance of these time immemorial aspects in the
establishment of national heritage conservation and their respective profitable administrative systems
and infrastructures seems overlooked at present times and deserves critical and deeper study of the trans-
sectorial connections and governance patterns. It is also possible to conclude that tourism and hospitality
can alleviate Ethiopia’s growth and development challenges, for these businesses can push up value and
identity to a larger scale and view and attract both foreign and local investors. Prioritizing on the instal-
lation and upgrading of technology, scaling up on the nation’s history and natural resources, properly
conserving heritages, positively promoting civilization traces and positive images, and enhancing actions
on beautiful but fragile socio-cultural and religious practices for tourism and hospitality would certainly
contribute to Ethiopia’s sustainable growth and development endeavors.

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KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Commitment: An archetype dedication to transform Ethiopia from poverty and crisis through tour-
ism and hospitality.
Hospitality: It is an assorted and scientific operation of all accommodation options.
Standard Tourism and Hospitality Operation: It is scalping up tourism and accommodation ser-
vices aided by up-to-date science and technology to meet the demands of the customer.
Technophobia: The dilemma and terror that coerced people not to use technology products.
Tourism: Integrative and scientific operation of any tourist attraction destination.
Transdiscipline: A discipline beyond disciplines to work for the amelioration of “non-integrating”
disciplines.

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