The newly formed Southern Ethiopia Region says its plan of increasing tourists standard accommodations that meets the needs of tourists visiting the region.
In his report, Chief Administrator Tilahun Kebede stated that the region had planned to prepare 7,020 standard accommodation rooms in the tourism sector and has achieved 75% of the target. He added that the number of tourism service-providing organizations operating in the region has now reached 2,850.
This is stated during the 7th regular session of the 6th round, 5th year working period of the Southern Ethiopia Regional State Council, which is currently being held in Arba Minch City. Among these, 960 institutions that received follow-up support and monitoring have obtained competency certification, achieving 96% of the planned target, according to the Chief Administrator.
Regarding job creation and support activities, he explained that the region planned to create direct employment opportunities for 20,000 citizens, and has so far created jobs for 19,200 people (97% achievement).
Similarly, out of the plan to create indirect employment opportunities for 25,000 citizens, the region managed to achieve 22,750 jobs (91%). He further stated that monitoring and inspections were planned for 1,500 tourism service providers, and the activity was carried out in 1,455 institutions (97%).
The Chief Administrator also noted that the region planned to evaluate and provide recognition certificates to 1,000 tourism service providers, and successfully provided certification to 755 institutions (75%).
Furthermore, a Tourism Quality Management System (TQMS) was planned to be implemented in 25 tourism service providers, and it has been implemented in 22 organizations (92%).
On the other hand, he stated that efforts were made to improve service quality and increase visitor satisfaction. The region planned to raise visitor satisfaction to 85% and achieved 82%, representing 96% completion of the target.
Overall, the Southern Ethiopia Region reported that it registered 4.5 billion birr in capital investment in the tourism sector including investments in luxury lodges like Lewi Resort Arba Minch during the budget year.
