nazret.com

Ethiopia - A 20 Million Birr Hotel opens in Debretabor

Source: ENA

A modern hotel constructed in Ethiopia's Debretabor Town at a cost of 20 million Birr was inaugurated on Saturday. The hotel is constructed by 30 Ethiopian investors, who have a share company.

It has a bar, a restaurant and a conference room, among others.

Share Company Board Chairman, Alemayehu Simegn on the occasion said the hotel was constructed to give service for local and foreign tourists visiting historical sites and natural attractions in the area.

Construction of the hotel has created jobs for more than 50 residents, he said.

Head of zonal trade and industry department, Kassa Alemu inaugurated the hotel.

Open bid to privatize Ethiopia Hotels Enterprise

Ethiopia Hotels Enterprise is in a bid to be sold to private owners, the Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA) announced recently. Ethiopia Hotels Enterprise will be sold in an open bid. This is the first attempt for the Agency to sell the enterprise through public bidding.

The agency has offered a 100% ownership for the enterprise that includes Harambee Hotel, located in the central part of Addis Ababa.

Wondafrash Assefa, public relation head of PPESA, told Capital that the bid document excluded another property of the enterprise, Sky Restaurant. "The restaurant will continue under the agency's ownership," Wondafrash added.

Ethiopia Hotels Enterprise had a chain located in Gambela town, that was recently privatized. Ethiopia Hotels Enterprises” head office is located around the National Theater, one of the major business and shopping centers of the capital city.

Read More from Capital ...

Visit Ethiopia, One of the most underrated countries in the world

Lonely Planet writer Katharina Kane blazes a trail through Ethiopia, a country more well-known for its droughts and desolation than its awesome tourist drawcards. Her journey begins in Harar with a drug-fuelled all-night trance vigil in the holiest Islamic city in Africa, and ends among thousands of Orthodox pilgrims on the shores of Lake Tana paying homage to a woman who tried to save the soul of the devil. Along the way she gets an insight into the courting rituals of the fearsome Afar nomads, goes in search of a three million year old ancestor and meets a septuagenarian gent carving a church out of rock armed with nothing but a pickaxe.

Catch Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled across Australia, Asia and the Pacific on Monday nights at 8.30pm and repeated Saturday 7.30pm and Sunday nights 6.30pm. For other air times please check your local TV guide. For more on the series, go to www.lonelyplanet.com/roadslesstravelled

Part 1

Part 2

---------------------

Interview with Tesfa Teshome 'International Tourism Expert' for Ethiopia at the World Travel Market 2009

Ethiopia's underground churches a historic wonder

LALIBELA, Ethiopia — Ten centuries ago, King Lalibela had a vision: That his capital, Roha, in what is now northern Ethiopia, would equal Jerusalem in spiritual and architectural glory.

And thus 11 fantastic churches were hewn in the reddish-pink volcanic scoria rock, each unique in style.

Luckily Lalibela lived to be 96 years old so he saw his legacy completed. When he died in 1221, he was buried in Beta Mikael church, and Roha became known as Lalibela. And it still stands today, a landmark of sacred architecture, a World Heritage Site, and one of the wonders of Africa.

Read Full Article from GlobalPost

Artwork in Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Photo: Mark Sissons

Travel: A leap of faith to Ethiopia's ancient holy sites

Mark Sissons, Special to The Chronicle

Sunday, December 13, 2009

The mind tends to wander when you're trying to catch a glimpse of the only man on Earth who's allowed to see the Ark of the Covenant, the shiny gold box said to hold the tablets of the Ten Commandments.

How do you get that job? Is there a security clearance? Does it come with medical and dental, or is your well-being pretty much overseen by the Almighty?

I couldn't help but think: Indiana Jones would have loved Axum.

Capital of sub-Saharan Africa's oldest empire, Axum is the epicenter of this mystical country's pious and austere brand of Orthodox Christianity; ground zero for the true believers who make pilgrimages to this ancient city set amid the soaring hills and deep chasms of Ethiopia's arid northern highlands. It also marks the final stop on the "historical route," a circuit through ancient and mysterious Christian kingdoms that have thrived here in what has been called Africa's Holy Land for more than 1,500 years.

Read more from San Francisco Chronicle