Tourism: Through And For Rekindling Our Cultural Heritage

Tourism: Through And For Rekindling Our Cultural Heritage

By Daniel Semere

Over the years tourism has become one of the very important factors, which promotes a country’s economy, its linkage with the world and builds cross-cultural relations as a vital force for peace. And within a given country it is considered to be the most powerful tool to promote national integration and unify people from all over the country. As it stands tourism is the world’s largest generator of jobs that can provide immediate employment, which is labor intensive. It has also a high tendency of bringing development in rural areas. However, what made this sector reliable is the fact that demand is continuous and it provides a ready market.

In Eritrea tourism is a recent phenomenon, which is just in its stage of infancy. But Eritrea’s resource base for tourism can be considered phenomenal. The country’s tourism attractiveness lies in its diversity. Some of the features which make Eritrea an attractive tourism proposition include: varied and impressive scenery, unspoiled wilderness areas, diverse cultures in particular the tradition of our ethnic groups, the beautiful buildings and art deco of Asmara and other cities, sunny and hot climate, the mesmerizing beaches, the general prevailing peace and security of the country to mention few among many other factors. And all these have a big potential of making Eritrea a major tourist destination in the region. However, in today’s world tourism has become a fiercely competitive business. For tourism destinations around the world competitive advantage is no longer natural. Rather it has become to be increasingly determined by man-made factors like technology, information and innovation. As such, it is not simply the stock of natural resources of Eritrea that will determine its competitiveness in tourism, but rather, how these resources are managed and to what extent they are complemented with human efforts.

Developing countries like Eritrea are faced with many hindrances that deter them from exploiting the sector to the maximum. A number of factors limit the effectiveness of the tourism industry to play a more meaningful role in the national economy. This can be in the form of lack of infrastructure particularly in rural areas, limited integration of local communities, inadequate tourism education, training and awareness. However, unless tourism is seen as strategically important to the nation and unless these things are addressed, tourism will continue to be a missed opportunity.

But in this endeavor, the basic and greatest deficiency in the tourism industry is the absence of adequate education and information, training and awareness opportunities. Like any business or industry, tourism needs the moral and financial support of the entire community. In this respect the key vehicle is raising awareness. No task in the sector can be completed without this fundamental ingredient especially in the part of the youth. To this end our people and especially youth should be exposed to the various resources our nation is endowed with. It is the people inside who first and foremost has to appreciate its own culture, history, and beautiful places and practices before we could attract others to come and do the same. Beside all of this we should know the worth of what we have, if we are going to preserve it. That is why the homework first has to start with the people inside and the first target should be the youth.

In trying to accomplish this our youth can be given an opportunity for authentic and educational travel experiences, the sharing of culture and a sense of adventure, which are all severely lacking. However, there had been attempts to organize trips especially high schools, but it was not consistent. This should be reinvigorated by curriculum driven School-based youth travel. In fact education and tourism are extremely complimentary. Education provides the true advantages of tourism. Knowledge of a place can best be acquired if that region is properly seen and understood. Students eagerly look forward for such opportunities when they are taken out of the four walls of classrooms to distant places. Geography can for instance become interesting if students are taken out of their books to see the scenes depicted in pictures or in their books with their own eyes. When students actually visit and witness the wonders of the world, they tend to learn more and remember for a longer time. History can also be made very interesting as well if students are allowed to visit historical monuments, architectural structures, battlefields, and all similar historical cities. Such initiative should be organized by the Ministry of Education and other concerned bodies who can contribute to this end.

One of such but best suited body is the National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students (NUEYS) and one of its famous campaign has been the Zura Nhagerka Program. This program is an initiative aimed at involving the youths in matters of appreciating Eritrea’s history, tourism, promote ethics, safeguarding of our historical and natural heritage. At the moment this program is being organized regularly and is becoming more and more appealing to youth travelers especially from the Diaspora. That is why the number of participants of the program has been steadily increasing with the highest number registered in this year’s program. Although it is clear that the NUEYS’s role is instrumental, other stake holders should take part in it to make it more developed and more inclusive. This is because at the moment the program primarily targets the Diaspora. However, there are also occasional tour programs organized by the NUEYS for youths residing in Eritrea. The outcome of Zura Nhagerka is self evident not only because the number of participants is increasing but also people are often making repeat visits. The challenge now is keeping the momentum and expanding the program.

We, Eritreans, have a history that radiate pride, a rich diversified culture, a country of beauty, historical sites of antiquity, our majestic sea, and etc. If only we had a slight knowledge of our country, we would find that its depth is unreachable. Only then can we be more suited to show the world of what we have and also preserve and give it its real worth. Unless tourism starts from the inside its potential cannot be realized. But most importantly it has to be employed to empower youth, foster pride in the community, reduce social ills and revitalize as well as rekindle interest in our cultural heritage.

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