Meron Abraha, Jul 29, 2010

When talking about tourism the first thing that comes to mind, at least for me, is the idea of a group of individuals visiting the historical, natural or archaeological sites of a country.

It wasn’t until a few years back that I learned that visiting these kinds of sites in your own country was actually also part and parcel of tourism: domestic tourism.

Domestic trips, which are defined as travel involving at least one overnight stay, and not day trips, include travel for purposes of holiday and leisure, visiting friends and relatives, business and government works.

And then it hit me: if domestic tourism does exist, then how many of us (are aware of the fact) even bother to visit the available tourist attraction sites while in the area? Only a few, I am sure.

In a recent trip to the Northern Red Sea Region on a reconnaissance tour to the region’s potential tourist attraction sites, organized by the Ministry of Tourism and the region’s Administration, I had the chance to discuss the issues with the Minister of Tourism and other participants of the tour.

“We usually expect only foreigners to come and visit our historical and archaeological sites when we ourselves don’t even know what tourist sites we possess,” Ms. Azieb Tewolde, Head of the PFDJ Research and Documentation Center and one of the tour participants, remarked.

She was referring to the fact that even the residents barely knew the tourist attraction sites in their respective neighborhoods or areas.

Most participants of the tour recommended that the ministry, in an effort to encourage nationals, organizes sightseeing tour packages at reduced prices.

Developing domestic tourism in Eritrea helps laying the foundations for a full-fledged tourism campaign for foreigners and serve to make the country a better tourist destination in the future.

It also provides recreation opportunities for Eritreans, helping them learn about and enjoy their own rich environmental, historical and cultural heritage. This should in turn lead to the protection and renovation of some neglected tourist attraction sites.

Domestic tourism further distributes economic benefits more widely through the country, especially from urban to rural areas.

World statistical reports estimate domestic tourism to be about ten times the amount of international tourism in terms of tourist trips, and is expected to continue growing rapidly.

A promising start has already been scored.

“We really shouldn’t bother about the existing constraints,” says Ms. Askalu Menkerios, the Minister of Tourism. “Let’s just start with whatever facilities we have and we’ll go on from there,” she said.

According to the Minister, what Eritrea needs now is developing a tourism industry that uses what it already possesses (existing infrastructure and tourist facilities) by upgrading its quality along the way in order to improve its efficiency.

To that end, the ‘Tour D’Eritrea’ program, which is mostly intended for Eritreans from the Diaspora and has been gaining its pace, is indeed a commendable initiative towards developing the domestic tourism industry. The biennial youth festival in Sawa has also created a favorable ground for the attending nationals from all parts of the world to take part in excursions around the country organized by the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students (NUEYS).

A recent independent study disclosed that the targeted domestic tourism travel for Eritrea is expected to reach about 1.5 million trips annually by 2020. The study based its estimations on the gradual increase of the growth rate of travel as Eritreans become economically more prosperous.

At present, domestic tourism in Eritrea is only emerging but should keep up the momentum, while the vitality of both service-rendering institutions and the awareness of the local public regarding this type of tourism should also grow.


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