Unlocking the potentials of community ecotourism: a promising agent of post war reintegration and sustainable development for Ethiopia and Eritrea

The article was presented in a launching seminar of ‘Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in Mekelle University, focused on ‘Restoring Ethio-Eritrean Relations from Bottom-up: People-to-People Reconciliation and its Contribution to Social Cohesion, Economic and Infrastructure Development’. The paper...

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Main Author: Moges Gebreegziabher Woldu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Cogent Social Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2024.2386711
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author Moges Gebreegziabher Woldu
author_facet Moges Gebreegziabher Woldu
author_sort Moges Gebreegziabher Woldu
collection DOAJ
description The article was presented in a launching seminar of ‘Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in Mekelle University, focused on ‘Restoring Ethio-Eritrean Relations from Bottom-up: People-to-People Reconciliation and its Contribution to Social Cohesion, Economic and Infrastructure Development’. The paper attempts to explore potentials and roles of community ecotourism in improving the livelihood of border communities and influences post-war re-integration of the society in both countries. The design of the research was qualitative approach. Data sources for this research were aligned to primary and secondary aspects. The primary sources were gathered through interviews with individuals, office holders and experts in the industry and visitors from both countries, and documents. Observations were experienced in the tourist destination sites in Tigrai, Ethiopia. Secondary sources were assessed to address the literature-based discussions. Therefore, findings revealed, the availability of high potentials for community ecotourism engagements in both countries. There are encouraging transport accesses, religious pilgrimages. The availability of variety foods, suitability of ecotourism eco-lodges, seashore in Eritrea; and the UNESCO registered sites and carnivals. There are excellent practices for sustainable ecotourism development linked to the environmental protection and land management. During the observations, Ethio-Eritreans appeared harmoniously enjoying the religious and non-religious carnivals. Therefore, sustainable ecotourism contributes to reconciliation, healing and peace building. The author recommends the participation of all stakeholders in the sustainable development of the community-based ecotourism. In this regard, the sector needs comprehensive socio-economic baseline survey to support the development initiatives.
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spelling doaj-art-bdd9699f4f324d4aabc0697abb84ace92025-08-20T04:03:21ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Social Sciences2331-18862024-12-0110110.1080/23311886.2024.2386711Unlocking the potentials of community ecotourism: a promising agent of post war reintegration and sustainable development for Ethiopia and EritreaMoges Gebreegziabher Woldu0Department of Anthropology, Institute of Paleo-environment and Heritage Conservation, Mekelle University, EthiopiaThe article was presented in a launching seminar of ‘Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in Mekelle University, focused on ‘Restoring Ethio-Eritrean Relations from Bottom-up: People-to-People Reconciliation and its Contribution to Social Cohesion, Economic and Infrastructure Development’. The paper attempts to explore potentials and roles of community ecotourism in improving the livelihood of border communities and influences post-war re-integration of the society in both countries. The design of the research was qualitative approach. Data sources for this research were aligned to primary and secondary aspects. The primary sources were gathered through interviews with individuals, office holders and experts in the industry and visitors from both countries, and documents. Observations were experienced in the tourist destination sites in Tigrai, Ethiopia. Secondary sources were assessed to address the literature-based discussions. Therefore, findings revealed, the availability of high potentials for community ecotourism engagements in both countries. There are encouraging transport accesses, religious pilgrimages. The availability of variety foods, suitability of ecotourism eco-lodges, seashore in Eritrea; and the UNESCO registered sites and carnivals. There are excellent practices for sustainable ecotourism development linked to the environmental protection and land management. During the observations, Ethio-Eritreans appeared harmoniously enjoying the religious and non-religious carnivals. Therefore, sustainable ecotourism contributes to reconciliation, healing and peace building. The author recommends the participation of all stakeholders in the sustainable development of the community-based ecotourism. In this regard, the sector needs comprehensive socio-economic baseline survey to support the development initiatives.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2024.2386711Community ecotourismcommunity eco-lodgespeace tourismreconciliationreintegrationDevelopment – Soc Sci
spellingShingle Moges Gebreegziabher Woldu
Unlocking the potentials of community ecotourism: a promising agent of post war reintegration and sustainable development for Ethiopia and Eritrea
Cogent Social Sciences
Community ecotourism
community eco-lodges
peace tourism
reconciliation
reintegration
Development – Soc Sci
title Unlocking the potentials of community ecotourism: a promising agent of post war reintegration and sustainable development for Ethiopia and Eritrea
title_full Unlocking the potentials of community ecotourism: a promising agent of post war reintegration and sustainable development for Ethiopia and Eritrea
title_fullStr Unlocking the potentials of community ecotourism: a promising agent of post war reintegration and sustainable development for Ethiopia and Eritrea
title_full_unstemmed Unlocking the potentials of community ecotourism: a promising agent of post war reintegration and sustainable development for Ethiopia and Eritrea
title_short Unlocking the potentials of community ecotourism: a promising agent of post war reintegration and sustainable development for Ethiopia and Eritrea
title_sort unlocking the potentials of community ecotourism a promising agent of post war reintegration and sustainable development for ethiopia and eritrea
topic Community ecotourism
community eco-lodges
peace tourism
reconciliation
reintegration
Development – Soc Sci
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2024.2386711
work_keys_str_mv AT mogesgebreegziabherwoldu unlockingthepotentialsofcommunityecotourismapromisingagentofpostwarreintegrationandsustainabledevelopmentforethiopiaanderitrea