Ethiopian Airlines Introduces Stopover Service to Boost Tourism

By Chinedu Eze

Ethiopian Airlines has announced rolled out stopover packages without any additional airfare that cater for all leisure needs with a view to promote tourism in the country.

The service commenced on August 1. This is also expected to encourage passengers to visit historical and tourism sites in Ethiopia and return to the airport to continue flights to their final destinations.

Passengers traveling through Addis Ababa and continuing their journey to one of the destinations on Ethiopian network can now take advantage of stopover offerings from Ethiopian Holidays, the tour operator wing of Ethiopian Airlines, enabling them to discover and experience the many historical, cultural, religious and natural treasures of Ethiopia, Land of Origins. An online e-visa service for processing stopover visa is available for all international visitors to Ethiopia.

The airline said the packages range from sightseeing in Addis Ababa, the diplomatic capital of Africa, to visits to the pre-Christian era obelisks of Axum, the stunning medieval rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, the amazing 9th century mosques of Harar, the majestic castles of Gondar, the stunning source of the Blue Nile, the jaw-dropping Simien Mountains, the splendor of the lake side resorts of Hawassa and Arba Minch, or the unique coffee farms of Kaffa, birth place of coffee and many others.

Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam said, “Ethiopian is working with all stakeholders in the tourism chain to make Ethiopia a tourism destination of choice. With its many riches, the world has yet to truly discover Ethiopia and tourism has the potential to become the main foreign currency generator for the country and a mass job creator for the youth. With the stopover packages, we aim to attract a significant portion of our transit customers in Addis as tourists and to considerably enhance the flow of tourism into the country.”

Ethiopia airlines said the stopover packages are easily accessible on its website and would pop-up as an option when passengers book flights transiting thru Addis Ababa orcan directly be accessed at Ethiopian Holidays website.