Ancient City of Ethiopia - A New Centre of TourismPosted by Black Barbour on June 5th, 2021 Ancient City of Ethiopia - A New Centre of Tourism Over a period of millennium Harar city in Ethiopia has been a centre of Islamic faith with severe four-metre walls, surrounding the ancient mosques and narrow streets twining among the houses. Jobs In Ethiopia, Jobs Ethiopia , Nowadays the authorities of Ethiopia hope to turn Harar into a centre of tourism. �Tourism is the future for Harar� - Murat Abdulhadi, the regional manager noted. UNESSO named Harar the world heritage last year, and thus approached it to such cultural objects as Grand Canyon in the USA, the Great Wall of China and Acropolis in Greece; one of the reasons of this decision is the fact that Harar is the forth holy city of Islam (Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Harar). There is really much to be seen in Harar. For instance, every night the old man, with the hair as gray as the city itself, hand-feeds some 50 hyenas obedient like children. And also they say that Harar is the birthplace of coffee. Harar, which lies 400 km from the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, suffers from permanent shortage of water. There are only few hotels in the city, the nearest airport is located so far that it takes one hour of driving. Abdulnasser Idriss, the head of Harar's tourism department, notes that the city �faces the serious problem�; annually hotels and motels of the city can accommodate no more than 4500 tourists. Isn't it a too venturous decision to make Harar a centre of tourism? To develop tourism, the regional government provides 10-year tax advantages to companies interested in construction of tourist objects. Federal authorities are going to lure more tourists to neighboring Dire Dawa. The authorities also plan to increase water supply to the city. Each resident in Harar gets now about 20 liters of water per day. Living conditions in Harar indeed are not at high level yet, but the most ancient monuments of architecture compensate all the inconveniences. There are 100 old mosques, fortress-style walls and ancient houses in the city. Abdurahman Ibrahim, 38 years old, who was born in Harar, recently decided to visit his homeland. He noted that the city became much more alluring to tourists. �Everything has changed. Most of the things - for the better: the roads, electricity, water. The city has grown so much�. Ethiopian government still has not said the exact sum of investments, money is needed everywhere: construction of hotels, restaurants and road that leads to the centre of the city has not been finished yet. Oil baron Sheik Mohammed Alamoudi, intends to invest more than 1 billion US$ in development of his motherland and to build the first luxury hotel in Harar.Like it? Share it! |