Ethiopian tourist attractions were exhibited to Chinese Tour Operators and Travel Agents in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, China last week. The Ethiopian Embassy in Beijing in collaboration with Ethiopian Airlines organized a Tourism Promotion Forum to promote Ethiopia’s tourism potential and destinations, in Shenyang, on Saturday (December 26). The Forum was organized under the theme, “Explore Ethiopia: The Land of Origins.” Ethiopia is second to none in Africa with its plethora of unique tourist attractions although its tourism development and strategic promotional efforts have yet to lead to a necessary paradigm shift in the sector. There’s still much to be done to expand and diversify tourism development and products and market these for tourists. The need for this is underlined by the increasing numbers of people in countries like China who are becoming interested in travel to discover the epic landscapes, ancient cultures and exotic wildlife to be found in Ethiopia as well as other countries.
The Forum in Shenyang City, firmly anchored in the steadily expanding people-to-people relations within the China-Africa cooperation agenda, attracted more than 60 representatives of major tour operators, travel agents, destination promoters, tourist media. Government officials from the Liaoning Provincial Commission of Tourism Development and the Shenyang Tourism Commission also graced the occasion, The Deputy Party Secretary of Liaoning Provincial Commission of Tourism Development, Mr. Wang Xiaojing, noted that Ethiopia was one of the African countries that the Chinese Government had designated “Approved Destination Status” for Chinese tourists. He emphasized that the Forum would serve as a platform to allow Liaoning tourists and tourism stakeholders to explore Ethiopia as a new tourist destination for the region’s population.
As a principal organizer of the event, the Ethiopian Embassy in Beijing presented Ethiopia’s diverse tourist attractions, focusing on the country’s immense geographic and cultural heritage, its long and rich history and spectacular biological diversity. It demonstrated exactly why Ethiopia was rightly dubbed the “Land of Origins”. Ethiopian Airlines also promoted its services to potential customers and highlighted its flight destinations from and to Ethiopia across the globe including local flight destinations, which have become something of a demonstration of Ethiopia as a preferred destination for Chinese tourists. The Forum concluded with celebration of the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Overall, it successfully emphasized the complementarities of the immense tourist attractions of Ethiopia and the great tourist potential of Liaoning Province for generating tourists in an out-bound tourist market.
Apart from the plenary sessions at the Forum, the Ethiopian Embassy, together with Ethiopian Airlines representatives, held fruitful bilateral discussions with the heads of Liaoning Provincial Commission of Tourism Development, the Liaoning Comfort International Travel Service Co., Ltd and the Shenyang Youth International Travel Service Co., Ltd. `it reached understandings on the promotion of Ethiopia as a tourist destination for Liaoning tourists. Liaoning Province, and its capital city, Shenyang, with a population of some 44 million, is itself endowed with a number of sites of scenic and historical interest which have encouraged interest in tourism. Recent reports have underlined that Chinese urban dwellers as well as the younger generation now see participation in outbound tourism as an indication of happiness and relaxation. Liaoning province has become one of the major sources of outbound tourist generators in China; following this Forum a significant number should be prepared to explore the numerous attractions of Ethiopia.
