Addis Abeba — The Amhara region, once the focal point of Ethiopia’s tourism landscape, is now eerily silent. With its rich historical, cultural, and natural heritage, Amhara was previously the centerpiece of Ethiopia’s tourism identity. The region is home to UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as Lalibela, Gondar, the Simien Mountains National Park, and Bahir Dar, with its Blue Nile Falls. Research consistently indicated that nearly every visitor to Ethiopia included destinations like Lalibela in their itinerary, highlighting its central role in the nation’s global heritage narrative.
Tourism once sustained countless livelihoods across Amhara, supporting hotel owners, tour operators, guides, artisans, cooks, transport providers, and cultural performers. The region’s renowned attractions–Lalibela’s rock-hewn churches, Gondar’s royal castles, Bahir Dar’s lake monasteries, and the Simien Mountains–now stand quiet, their pathways empty. This vital economic lifeline has been shattered.
According to reports, the COVID-19 pandemic was the first major blow, bringing global travel to a standstill and plunging Amhara’s tourism industry into crisis. Just as the region began to chart a path toward recovery, the outbreak of the war in the Tigray region further heightened insecurity and deterred potential visitors.
More recently, conflict within the Amhara region itself has further compounded these challenges. The consequences have been severe: hotels have closed, thousands of tourism workers have lost their jobs, and communities once sustained by tourism have been thrust into isolation and poverty. Skilled, multilingual guides now drive tuk-tuks or remain unemployed, while women who once earned a living selling crafts or hosting traditional coffee ceremonies are being forced to sell their belongings simply to survive.
Silencing legacy
While these crises have significantly contributed to the decline of tourism in Amhara, a deeper issue persists: a systematic effort by the federal government to overshadow the region’s cultural and historical heritage. This has further marginalized Amhara’s rich legacy, limiting its presence in national tourism promotion and diminishing its visibility on the international stage.
While security concerns are often cited to justify restricted access, the consistent exclusion of Amhara heritage from public-facing campaigns suggests motives beyond mere caution.”
As a former digital advisor at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Tourism, I observed the beginnings of a troubling pattern: the gradual obscuring of heritages located in the northern part of the country, particularly in the Amhara region, from official tourism promotion. World-famous sites like Lalibela, Gondar, Simien Mountains National Park, and Lake Tana monasteries–once central to Ethiopia’s global image–have been increasingly absent from the Ministry’s outreach. The official “Ethiopia: Land of Origins” Tourism Promotion Facebook page, originally created solely for destination promotion, has gradually transformed into a platform for government propaganda and news dissemination. Upon reviewing its 2025 posts, I found that the Amhara region’s rich cultural and historical assets are significantly underrepresented. In contrast, the page now gives considerable attention to newly launched, government-led tourism projects, while historical heritage sites, including those in the Amhara region, receive only token or superficial mentions. Even cultural events such as Timket or Genna (also known as Ethiopian Christmas) appear sporadically but are often framed within state messaging rather than celebrated as authentic, standalone heritage celebrations.
This trend extends beyond social media into digital brochures and diaspora campaigns, which focus almost exclusively on newly built attractions. While observing Ethiopia’s preparations for ITB Berlin 2025 in Germany, the world’s leading travel trade show, I noticed a striking lack of representation for iconic sites in the Amhara region. Although visitors to the booth frequently inquired about landmarks like Lalibela and Gondar, these historic attractions were given no dedicated space in the promotional materials. The booth’s banners highlighted new developments, and promotional display videos offered minimal coverage of these popular northern sites, leaving their rich heritage largely invisible to the international audience.
While security concerns are often cited to justify restricted access, the consistent exclusion of Amhara heritage from public-facing campaigns suggests motives beyond mere caution. It appears to reflect a strategic reframing–one that sidelines the country’s historical legacy in favor of newer narratives. Based on my experience within the Ministry and through continued observation, I believe this represents a deliberate effort to obscure some of Ethiopia’s most significant cultural landmarks. Such an approach not only distorts the nation’s heritage narrative but also undermines the authenticity and coherence of its tourism identity.
Heritage under siege
While officials at the Ministry of Tourism promote a “booming recovery,” some of Ethiopia’s most iconic heritage sites remain largely deserted. At the same time, the Ministry reports inflated figures on tourist arrivals and revenue–numbers that have raised eyebrows among industry stakeholders, given the visible decline in key tourism corridors, particularly in the Amhara region. For those familiar with conditions on the ground, these claims sharply contrast with the reality of a collapsed tourism economy in Amhara, where once-thriving heritage destinations now receive few visitors and less official promotion.
The damage to the tourism sector goes beyond institutional neglect and media erasure. Widespread road closures across Amhara, especially on routes connecting Bahir Dar to Lalibela and Gondar to Debark, have made even domestic travel nearly impossible. Tourists who had planned itineraries including the Simien Mountains or Lake Tana have been forced to cancel or reroute their trips, often at the last minute. Major roads remain blockaded by either government checkpoints or local militias, creating a sense of siege and isolation around entire cities.
The path forward is not to redirect attention to sanitized, state-sponsored attractions while allowing Amhara’s legacy to deteriorate.”
Similarly, commercial flights to Bahir Dar, Lalibela, and Gondar have been disrupted or cancelled, either due to government airspace restrictions or sudden spikes in conflict. Travel uncertainty has led international travel agencies to mark the region as “high-risk,” further cutting it off from global tourism networks. Even when flights do operate, visitors report intense scrutiny upon arrival, sometimes including confiscation of cameras or interrogation about travel intentions.
In addition, travel advisories issued by the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and others now blanket the entire Amhara region with sweeping warnings, failing to distinguish politically motivated restrictions from genuine security threats. The U.S. State Department has labeled Amhara a “Do Not Travel” zone; the UK Foreign Office and Canada’s Global Affairs have issued similar guidance–effectively reinforcing the government’s selective narrative. Israeli advisories have even documented cases of blocked travel routes and detentions near Gondar and Wollo, advising their citizens to avoid the region altogether.
Meanwhile, international tourism development programs and donor-supported projects bypass local guides, hotels, and artisans–the very people who once sustained and defined Ethiopia’s heritage tourism.
All of this occurs against the backdrop of the escalating conflict between the federal government and Fano militias, a clash that has brought widespread displacement, arrests, and heavy military presence to tourism corridors. What once were vibrant cultural centers–such as Gondar’s royal compound or Lalibela’s rock-hewn churches–are now surrounded by military outposts, sometimes even within earshot of gunfire. For tourists, the psychological toll of navigating an active conflict zone makes return visits unlikely; for locals, it is a devastating erasure of both livelihood and cultural exchange.
This is not merely a regional issue; the collapse of tourism in the Amhara region represents a national crisis. In previous years, tourism ranked among Ethiopia’s top sources of foreign currency and employment. Visitors to Lalibela did not spend exclusively in Amhara; they booked national airlines, stayed in hotels in Addis Abeba, and supported small businesses across multiple regions. The marginalization of Amhara’s heritage not only diminishes Ethiopia’s competitiveness in the global tourism market but also erodes the cultural integrity that underpins its national identity.
Among the key steps necessary to revive Amhara’s tourism sector, the immediate de-escalation of conflict and sustained investment in regional stability are paramount. Equally important is the support of local tourism workers through targeted grants, skills training, and the rehabilitation of essential infrastructure. Additionally, the free and unrestricted promotion of Amhara’s heritage sites–free from political interference–is crucial. It is also vital to amplify the voices of local communities, including guides, historians, and artisans, whose work is central to preserving the cultural soul of Ethiopia.
The path forward is not to redirect attention to sanitized, state-sponsored attractions while allowing Amhara’s legacy to deteriorate. Rather, the government must pursue a holistic and inclusive strategy. Reviving tourism in Amhara will require more than marketing–it will demand political will, sustained peace, and a genuine commitment to justice. AS
Editor’s Note: Amanuel Agajjie Wasihun is a tourism and digital marketing specialist, data scientist, and former digital advisor at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Tourism. He can be reached at [email protected]
