COVID-19 Pandemic and Tourism Sector in Ethiopia

Abstract

The outbreak of Corona Virus caused massive damage on Ethiopian economy. In order to savehuman life caused by the pandemic, travel restriction and stay-at-home advice was ordered. Asa result, the tourism sector is one of the highly affected economic sectors in the country. Thispaper intends to assess the effect of COVID-19 on tourism sector in the country. The assessmentwas made based on the summative assessment result of sub sectors including accommodation,transport, food and beverage, entertainment, and other connecting operators. These sub-sectorsare naturally demanding human mobility and close social interaction. The study found thathotels occupancy rate was reduced from 80-85% to less than 5%, transportation particularlyinternational air travel stopped, SME’s around the tourism sector lost their market, financialservice providers linked to the industry ceased, and employees and customer behavior changed alot. The study recommends that integration and cooperation of the actors in the sector as asolution to save the sector from the pandemic impact.