ADDIS ABABA-THE WORLD CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM

On February 6, 2019 in an official ceremony the Ethiopia``s capital Addis Ababa will be announced as the new WORLD CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM.

The new WORLD CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM is preparing for a string a celebrations during 2019 and 2020 marking 550 years as a political center and 130 years since in 1889 the Emperor Menelik II announced the city as the capital of his Ethiopian empire.

The decision of the global tourism institution-European Council on Tourism and Trade to register Addis Ababa on the coveted list of WORLD`S CAPITAL OF CULTURE AND TOURISM comes in recognition of the city administration lead by the new city mayor Mr. Takele Uma Benti ambitious plans to place tourism at the root of the city development.

Among the reasons for crowning the city as a world cultural and touristic hub the European Council on Tourism and Trade enumerated the existence of a vast array of historically and religiously monuments like the former imperial palace hosting today the Ethnographic Museum, the Entoto enclose of Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taytu , the cathedrals of Saint George, Holy Trinity, Medhame Alem –the largest cathedral in Ethiopia and the second in Africa etc.

In 2015 Ethiopia was selected as World`s Best Tourist Destination by the European Council on Tourism and Trade leading to a historic surge in the numbers of tourists in the country and of tourism related revenues.   

Addis Ababa National Museum was also selected on TOP 10 Museums list.