-The Amhara State Culture and Tourism Bureau announced that it has collected over 5.2 billion Birr in revenue from more than 8.6 million domestic and foreign tourists over the past nine months.
The Bureau’s Public Relations Chief, AbebeEmbiale, told the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA) that approximately 8.6 million domestic and 16,956 foreign tourists visited the state during the first nine months of this fiscal year.
He pointed out that the number of domestic and foreign tourists exceeded the planned targets for the period by 91.3% and 67.7%, respectively.
Accordingly, the state achieved 5.1 billion Birr in revenue, surpassing the planned 3.9 billion Birr income from domestic tourists, the official noted.
He added that overall performance was higher than the 4.3 billion Birr initially targeted for the budget year.
On another note, Abebe said the bureau has identified and assessed damage to 367 monuments, while repair work was carried out on 156 permanent and 425 movable monuments. Cleaning and maintenance work was also completed for 939 permanent and 16,063 movable monuments, he added.
Meanwhile, organizational support and monitoring activities were conducted in 10,023 institutions over the nine months to help improve their services and boost the sector’s growth.
According to the Chief, the sector is in good shape due to the coordinated efforts of stakeholders.