Ethiopia is endowed with historical, cultural and natural attractions possessing nine UNESCO world heritage sites, hospitable people and suitable all weather conditions which makes it ideal for tourism destinations. It is after all the Land of Origins being the cradle of humanity, where we first walked on two legs, the source of the Blue Nile, the great river whose power and fertility nurtured the origin of civilization itself, the origin of one of life’s greatest pleasures – coffee, Ethiopia’s gift to the world and many others.
Realizing the tourism sector potential to economic development, the government of Ethiopia is proving its commitment and willingness through a number of initiatives to increase the sector’s share to the country’s GDP which remained untapped for generations.
As much as it is also true in other sectors of the economy, research and our own experience suggested the existence of high gender disparity in Ethiopia’s tourism sector where the majority of women are found in the informal sector with low decent employment opportunities and with limited access to credit and market linkages.
As voiced time and again, policies and actions by governments that fail to take gender inequality into account and any failure to address the disparities between men and women will have limited effectiveness and serious unwanted implications on the countries’ development aspiration.
With a mission of contributing our part in enabling the conditions for equal economic opportunities in the growing tourism sector, women professionals from different backgrounds came together and launched Women in Tourism Ethiopia organization, WiTE on the 30 of January 2020.
Women in Tourism Ethiopia has been registered and accorded legal personality with registration number of 4737 on January 30, 2020 as local organization in accordance with the civil society organization proclamation No. 113/2019
The Key objectives of the WiTE are
- Provide capacity building programs to woman in the tourism and hospitality industry in Ethiopia
- Promote Women participation in the tourism and hospitality industry across Ethiopia
- Identify barriers for women in doing business in the tourism sector and influence stakeholders for actions,
- Liaise with similar organizations and align the tourism sector development in Ethiopia
The board members conducted their first ever meeting on 29 February 2020 after being registered as a legal entity. We deliberated on the progress made so far and provided direction in to the future.
I take this opportunity to call upon all interested women professionals in the tourism sector of Ethiopia to join our association and take our own affairs in to our own hands together. I also call upon all interested parties to support our cause in any form so that we meet our objectives.
Yeshihareg Sefiw
Chair Person, Women in Tourism Ethiopia, WiTE
