Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Simien mountains in Amhara, one of the regions the FCO is advising tourists avoid. Photograph: Alamy“The state of emergency and FCO travel advisory have taken a heavy toll on bookings for the next six months,” said Nigel Nicoll of the African Travel and Tourism Association (Atta), who added that Ethiopia had been one of Africa’s fastest growing destinations. In 2015, the European Council on Tourism and Trade named Ethiopia the world’s best tourist destination, and last week Lonely Planet ranked the country among the best to visit in 2017. This year, Ethiopia was set to surpass a million tourists for the first time (fewer than 200,000 people visited in 2004). But I am confident that as soon as peace is restored throughout the tourist regions, and the FCO lifts its travel advisory, tourism numbers will revive very quickly.”

Source: Ethiopian News November 06, 2016 12:30 UTC