Strategically located closer to the sea Ports, Dire Dawa thrives as a major commercial hub where foreign trade and investment are facilitated. As such, for many Ethiopians, Dire Dawa is well known as a hub of trade.
Indeed, from its genesis, it was the country’s commercial capital for about a century. Its linkage with trade is tied to the Ethio-Djibouti Railway, which is the first long-distance transportation means that connects the country with marine transport. As a result, the railway became the city’s identity, and it is still considered one of its old heritages.
Without losing its status as a commercial hub Dire Dawa is believed to have more other opportunities that can drive its journey to economic development. Among such opportunities is the big potential that the city cherishes in tourism.
There is more to the tourism industry in Dire Dawa than railway transport and the consequent trade activities that made it famous for so long. Contrary to what many people think the century-old city has contained historical heritages that span thousands of years and cultural assets that could captivate visitors. However, due to a lack of proper attention to the sector and the required promotional work to attract visitors, the city is not reaping adequate economic benefits from the sector.
“Those who know Dire Dawa know only about the center. They know very little or nothing about the attractions in the surrounding localities and their historical backgrounds. The city is full of attractions that, not only strangers, but also natives do not know much about” says Meriem Belete, native and resident of Dire Dawa who promotes the city’s tourist attractions through social media.
According to the officials of the City’s Culture and Tourism Bureau, Dire Dawa is endowed with diverse tourism destinations like many of the tourist magnets of the country. The major ones are tangible historical places, multicultural and religious shrines … etc. In addition, there are several intangible cultural assets.
Out of all the factors that could drive successful tourism, the first thing that the officials and other operators dare to mention is the people’s rich culture of hospitality. The residents of the city have throughout the years exercised the culture of welcoming strangers regardless of who they are and what they are up to.
Dire Dawa is one of the few urban areas of the country that is a mosaic of ethnic groups and religions both local and foreign. Due to this, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) nicknamed it Little Ethiopia signifying its resemblance to the nation in hosting such large diversity.
In addition to this, Dire Dawa also maintains the decades-old legacy of people from abroad who have lived and worked in the city for such long time. While the descendants of people from India, Greece, Armenia, Yemen, Italy, Italy and France still exist, the city further reflects the cultural practices of these foreigners especially of Indian crematorium, and Jewish and Greek spiritual places.
“In Dire Dawa speaking at least four languages is common. There is nothing that can limit people’s exposure to various languages. Afan Oromo, Somali, and Amharic are widely used vehicular languages in the city. But some people also speak Arabic, French, Greek, Turkish … etc” Meriem says.
The people’s centuries-old exposure to various linguistic and religious backgrounds has helped them build a culture of hospitality and captivate the newcomers’ hearts and minds. As a result the people who frequently travelled to the city over the years for trade and employment all retain good memories about the people and the city.
As the city was founded more than a century ago, it is endowed with many places of historical, cultural and architectural significance. The buildings could be government administrative offices, commercial centers, religious shrines … etc with unique historical attachments.
“For instance, there is a place which used to be a flour mill. However, during the good old days, people never knew that flour was produced in a mill house; so they thought that the place was a satan’s house. Yet not many people know whether it exists. Even those who know it, never dare to access it due to the decades of psychological impact” Meriem explains.
Contrary to what many people expect there are many sites that are endowed with ancient, tangible historical heritages around the city. For many years the northern part of the country was known for ancient historical heritages like religious shrines, caves … etc. But Dire Dawa also possesses similar sites that even antedate those in other places.
“If you go 38 km out of the city there is a cave called Laga Oda. There are more than 20 Tributary Rivers and fountains. In another area, there is a 7,000-year-old cave that bears paintings of animals. That was a coded message of people at that time” says Meriem.
The city’s tangible heritages are located both in the urban and rural clusters of the administrative division. These heritages are places where ancient civilization, trade and other interactions used to take place. Those included in the urban centres of the city are mostly the old cemeteries, crematoriums, schools, shrines and residences of foreigners mainly from Italian, Greek, Arab, Hindu, Armenian and Turkish societies that used to live in the city and still exist in varying numbers, says Neima Ibrahim Sherif, Deputy Head of the City’s Culture and Tourism Office and Chief of the tourism sector.
The rural clusters are also rich in diverse types of tourist sites. According to Neima many of the ancient historical heritages exist in the rural clusters of the city administration. Among them are the 7000-year-old cave called Laga Oda and Abayazid, as well as a 500-year-old ancient mosque, as well as the Harla cave paintings that belong to the Harla Sultanate that reigned from the 5th to the 14th century, she explained.
The sector which is now largely overwhelmed by trading activities can grow rapidly as it should if given the support from the government and other stakeholders if appropriate promotional works are carried out.
The decades of focus towards nurturing the import and export trade have converged all the attention of the nation and the city only on trade or commercial activities. The people also depended only on the commercial activities that thrived in the city throughout the years. That was the order of the day and no one paid attention to what other opportunities were available in the city.
Despite this culture as an enabling factor, the various administrations that ruled the city in the past have not used it to put a foundation for the development of tourism which could have served to diversify the city’s means of revenue generation.
To reverse this situation and revamp the economic potential of tourism the office is working strongly on promoting the eye-catching tourist attractions of the city and the pull factors that add worth to people’s stay in the city.
“The corridor development activities in the city are bringing about new opportunities. Along with this to perpetuate the old legacy of railway transport in the city, two locomotives are under construction. Upon completion they will be placed in one of the hubs of the city so that they can serve as café and fruit grocers so that people with memories of the past can spend their leisure time” Neima said.
Security is a bottom-line issue in overall economic activity. But running a tourism business needs an extra level of peace and security so that newcomers can have the best experience by moving to different parts of the city with the utmost freedom.
In this regard, Neima asserts that as a result of the strong reform works carried out in the city’s security organs and the collaborative work with the society, especially the youth, Dire Dawa is now peaceful day and night. She further expressed hope that this will contribute immensely towards boosting the city’s fledgling tourism industry.
