Challenges and opportunities of tourism management practices in Afar National Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

Afar region has potential for attracting tourists because it has located in the North - Eastern part of Ethiopia and it is the lowest area. the Afar Regional State, major destination challenges related to community participation, community organizations, benefit sharing mechanism, knowledge of the society about tourism, funding for tourism development, facilities and services in a destination, organizational structure, infrastructural development and stakeholder coordination have not been properly examined. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the major challenges and opportunities of tourism development in the Afar national regional state in the case of Ertale and Adar woreda. The design of the study is descriptive and has employed both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The researcher used instruments such as interview, questionnaire, focus group discussion and existing secondary sources for data gathering. The finding of the study shows many challenges and opportunities of tourism development in Afar region. The main challenges include bureaucratic problem, in sufficiency of basic infrastructures, low promotion in the sector, macroeconomic instability and problem of implementation capacity.