Disappointed

We live in the land of 13 months of sunshine and where the smile is at home. We just celebrated the beginning of a new millennium and we bend over backwards to please. This is the land of origin of coffee and enjerra, where we relax around coffee ceremonies and enjoy weddings like nowhere else. Ethiopia is truly a land of rich cultural diversity and dramatic geographical scenery throughout the historical route and the Great Rift Valley. It is also the capital of the African Union and hosts numerous international conferences. Ethiopia must be an interesting place to visit indeed, according to tour operators and travellers alike. The country has much to offer to tourists and visitors from abroad and more than enough to wish for the exploring traveller, who read so much about it in anticipation and who invested much time and money to see it all for himself.
I often meet people who came from far to visit some of the Ethiopian exotic places and I am always curious to find out how they liked their adventures, especially from those who took the effort to travel deep into the countryside like South Omo for example, known to inhabit so many unique tribes in their natural environment.
While they are normally quite enthusiastic about most of their journeys, their tone changes when it comes to South Omo. More often than not they come back disappointed, especially after braving the long and uncomfortable ride into the heat and unknown. Leaving Addis Abeba full of expectations, they come back disillusioned. What seems to be going wrong here?
Typically, a number of four or five tourists are driven to their destination in an older or newer 4wd vehicle, depending on the tour operator chosen. Extra drinking water and food stuffs in the back of the car and plastic jerry cans with fuel on the roof rack must allow the party to go to places where there are no regular service providers anymore. And while the visitors are under the impression that they have just begun a most unique journey, they are driven down the beaten track instead. Most tour operators take their clients to the same places and villages en route and it is usually the same communities that have the privilege to receive the visitors. After years of doing so, the communities have learnt that they don’t benefit much from the frequent visitors who leave them behind after a short while in a cloud of dust anyway. So they developed a strategy to get as much money out of them in the shortest possible time. Money for photographs, that is. So aggressive has become their approach that the visitors react by wanting to leave the place rather earlier than later, while all they wanted was to be able to wonder around, observe the people in their natural environment and perhaps have a little conversation with some of them. The visitors are also forced to pay for a local guide who normally does nothing and speaks no English. Their own tour operator’s guide now watches helplessly as their clients are confused by what is going on. He has taken them there and apparently has no role to play here at all. Taking the poverty levels and problems the local people face into account, one can hardly blame them for trying to get some money out of their rich and wealthy visitors. It is all but pleasant for both sides though. The main cause for all this in my opinion is that while the area and its people are main tourist attractions, they have never been regarded as main stakeholders in the tourist sector. And in any project I have observed over the years, there will be no success without involving the local communities and allowing them ownership over what is happening with and around them. Instead, tour operators, travel agents, hotel and restaurants take it all while the local people are not respected as main stakeholder. It seems to me that all parties involved don’t really understand each other and perhaps that is where we can begin to do something about improving the situation. Most tourists are interested in learning more about the people living in the area they are visiting. And they most probably don’t mind paying, given the chance to wonder around and take in the environment in peace. They would probably be happy to pay more instead of getting irritated over the few Birr demanded for every photograph they take. It is not only about photographs. There is more that motivated them to make this long journey. There seems to be no good understanding between the communities and the tour operators either as both deal with the visitors in a most uncoordinated way.
So what can be done to improve the situation?         
Stakeholders must come together, meet, discuss and find ways so that all can continue or some even begin to benefit from tourism in their area. Stakeholders include the local communities in the first place, the tour operators, hotels, restaurants and other service providers. Tour operators and travel agents, who should know their business, seem best placed to take the initiative in this. Some good ideas may come out of brainstorming sessions, while the communities may come up with suggestions and contributions never thought of before. Imagine a local museum, where tourist can learn everything there is to learn about local life, cultures, ceremonies etc. The visit could be enriched by lectures and walking safaris though the village and the bush. The children of tourists may be given the chance to herd some animals for a while together with some of the local kids or learn how to milk a cow. A campsite nearby will allow the visitors to stay longer while the evening is lighted up by some dance and music. The tourists will be more than willing to pay for the package and benefits will go to the community, not only to the individual who posed for a picture or to the travel agent who brought them. A comprehensive visitors’ package can de developed as is done in other countries. Why don’t we learn from experiences elsewhere? It can be done, this much I am convinced of. But it must be done together and with the communities included as major stakeholder. The result of the effort could be a real win-win situation instead of the loose-loose that it is now. Who will take up the challenge?