Review on the Opportunity and the Challenges of Eco Tourism Development in Ethiopia

Abstract

Ecotourism is defined as responsible travel to natural areas that conserve the environment and improves the well-being of local community.  The country of Ethiopia is home to a variety of bird species, mammals, plants, amphibians, reptiles, lakes, rivers, jungle forests, and savannahs, making it a haven for various unknown living organisms. Additionally, Ethiopia offers a wealth of unexplored cultural tourism features that draw in a lot of tourists.  Although having an abundance of natural, cultural, and historical resources, Ethiopia eco tourism development  is suffering from poor promotion, Compared to other African countries, the resource is still undiscovered,  due to inadequate marketing and a lack of educated and qualified manpower, the majority of foreign tourists also had the impression that Ethiopia was a country with signs of conflict, drought, and starvation and did not have many tourist attractions.  Poor ecotourism infrastructure and facilities (trekking passes, parking spaces, all-weather roads, camping areas, clean water, electricity, health and other facilities), conflicts over resource usage, a lack of coordination between sectors, and a critical shortage of trained manpower are the main obstacles to the growth of ecotourism in Ethiopia. This indicates Ethiopia has a lot of resources, but not all of them have been used to the country's advantage, and not all of its attractions are well-known. The inability of diverse stakeholders to fulfill their tasks is one of the main causes of poor implementation, which is the outcome of institutions' insufficient coordination.

Keyword: Eco -tourism , Infrastructure ,conservation ,Ethiopia

DOI: 10.7176/JTHS/65-02

Publication date:August 31^st 2023