State secures over 933 million Birr revenue from tourism

Bahir Dar, Ethiopia – Over 933.6 million Birr revenue was secured from tourists who visited natural, historic and religious sites in Amhara State during the concluded budget year, the State culture, tourism and parks bureau said.

Heritage protection and tourism development work process owner with the bureau, Wagaw Haile told ENA over the weekend that over 6.7 million tourists visited historic and religious sites in the State. The stated sum obtained from tourism and the number of tourists visited the sites increased by over 500.1 million Birr and 4.4 million respectively. He attributed the success for infrastructure development and advertising the tourist destinations in the State for foreigners.

The sector created jobs for close to 35,000 residents, he said.

The Semien Mountains National Park, the castles of King Fasiledes and his successors, the Rock Hewn Churches of Lalibela and the Monasteries in Lake Tana, among others were the sites visited by tourists.

Three of the nine Ethiopian heritages inscribed as world heritages, i.e. Semien Mountains National Park, Fasil Ghibi (the Castles of King Fasiledes and his successors) and the Rock Hewn Churches of Lalibela are found in Amhara State.