As part of UNWTO’s National Statistical Capacity Building Programme (NSCBP), an evaluation mission was fielded to Ethiopia at the request of the government to review its tourism statistics. The main objectives of the mission were to evaluate the current systems for the collection and production of tourism statistics and their overall availability; to elicit views from a wide range of government and non-government stakeholders on the main priorities for developing tourism data and statistics; and discuss future technical assistance requirements and priorities in support of the government’s tourism agenda and the tourism sector over the coming years.

The mission held meetings with senior officials and technical counterparts from the key institutions engaged in tourism data and statistics. These included the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, National Bank of Ethiopia, Central Statistics Agency and Department of Immigration. Meetings were also held with State Tourism Offices, taking into account their responsibility for data collection at the regional level. Additionally, a workshop was held during the mission for tourism and statistics officials to improve awareness of the UNWTO methodology for tourism statistics, international concepts and definitions, and the requisite components for the development of a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA).  The workshop served to consult with participants from the key public and private sector institutions on issues relating to the current system and exchange views on the way forward.

The mission identified a number of structural areas where enhancements could be made to the capacity of the current system, including the introduction of new surveys and strengthening data collection processes. UNWTO will continue its cooperation with Ethiopia in 2012 to support the government’s efforts to develop its evidence and knowledge base of one of Ethiopia’s key economic sectors.