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Ethiopia is a country endowed with different archaeological, cultural, natural and manmade heritages/attractions having a potential to attract tourists. Notwithstanding the above fact, tourism´s contribution to the national economy is not significant and the industry is under-performing relative to the tremendous potential it has compared to other African countries. . There could be several challenges for the under deserved tourism gain and among which promotion and marketing of the destination is core. This study basically assessed the promotion of tourist destinations made by ministry of culture and tourism of Ethiopia. Factors that challenge tourism promotion, attributes of promotional materials and opportunities to promotion have been assessed. The study showed that the promotional activities were ineffective due to several factors among which lack of budget, country image, lack of skilled manpower, information and inadequate infrastructure are found. This study recommends that the promotional activities should be directed in correcting the present image towards showing that Ethiopia as tourists´ destination.

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SILESHI GIRMA is Lecturer in University of Gondar, department of Tourism Management and actively involved with the travel industry. His formal education includes B.A. in Tourism management from university of Gondar, an MBA from Mekelle University and has specialization in International Business.

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