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Above:
Photo at Sheraton Addis Hotel by Muguette Goufrani,
2008
Addis
Ababa: Africa's Meeting
Place
by Jerry W.
Bird, Editor
Quick now! Why did ATA choose Addis Ababa as
the venue for its 32nd World Congress in May 2007?
To begin with Addis is today's political capital of
Africa, home of the Organization of African Unity
(OAU) and the United Nations Economic Commission
for Africa, (UNECA). Did you kinow that more than
95 embassies from all over the world have located
their missions in Addis Ababa?. That's right - the
capital of Ethiopia a city where the visitor or
meeting planner will discover the highest
concentration of embassies in the world after
Washington DC, New York and London.
Our most recent
trip to Addis Ababa was the first since 2000, and
fortunately our friendship with well known experts
such as Timkat
Wedajo was
a blessing. Timkat started us off with a city tour
that brought back many pleasant memories, from the
panoramic views of the city and area from Mount
Entoto, to a network of famous parks, museums and
historic attractions - including the ornate railway
station that once carried the special train of
Emperor Selassie from here to Djibouti. . We will
describe the shopping, great restaurants and
bistros in the Ethiopia Millennium Souvenir Edition
now in production
.
Addis Ababa is easily accessible, having daily
flights to and from cities in Europe. Ethiopian
Airlines, Lufthansa, Alitalia, Kenya Airways, Egypt
Air and others serve Addis Ababa. Perhaps what
makes Addis unique is that the national carrier,
Ethiopian Airlines, serves many cities in Africa -
making it the most accessible city on the
continent.
Hotel and Resort
Development: Ethiopia's genial Tourism Minister,
H.E. Ambassador Dirir spoke of the amazing growth
in the country's hotel sector at the recent ATA
Congress: "Investors are tapping Ethiopia's tourism
potential. Already, four and five star hotels are
currently under construction in Addis Ababa." We
witnessed this surge of activity in construction
first hand during our month in the area and made a
special effort to visit as many hoteliers as
possible, including our friends at the Ras Hotel
Addis (one of seven in Ethiopia) with its
beautiful convention facility. Did you know that
Nelson Mandela stayed at this historic hotel during
his exile from apartheid? We visited and
photographed the same room. More about that in our
next magazine edition. We attended a grand opening
celebration for the Axum Hotel (one of two
in Ethiopia) and had the pleasure of staying there
for our final two weeks in the country. What
attractive suites - complete with the latest
wireless internet service, plus a health spa with
sauna and steam. We also stayed at the Ghion
Hotel Addis, famous for its gardens. See some
of our beautiful wedding photos taken during
several weekends at the Ghion.
Sheraton
Addis: The Sheraton Addis offers modern
conference facilities with simultaneous
interpretation; big tv screens and executive
boardrooms. Up to 500 participants can be seated in
the main hall. The Sheraton Addis is set in
beautiful grounds, overlooking the capital city.
Aside from the conference facilities, the hotel has
3 restaurants; a gazebo for light meals by the
swimming pool; a musical fountain; cozy bars, and a
health center. This luxury collection hotel is
ideal for those who wish to have their meetings and
accommodations at the same place.
Hilton Addis Ababa:
The Hilton Hotel offers a banquet hall for meetings
of up to 500 participants. There are also two
meeting rooms that can sit up to 20 people and
another two for up to eight persons. Overhead
projectors, flip charts, projection screens and
video projectors are available.
United Nations
Conference Center: The UNCC is one of the most
modern and sophisticated conference centers in the
world, offering state-of-the-art facilities,
including:
•
Conference Room capable of seating 600 delegates
plus 180 in the gallery.
•
Conference Room accommodating 400 delegates plus 48
in the gallery.
• Four
Conference Rooms, each with a seating capacity of
114. Simultaneous interpretation
facilities.
• Small
meeting rooms for 20 to 30 people; briefing rooms;
office suites; a press center with the most
up-to-date electronic equipment to transmit audio
and video reports
• Business
Center; cafeteria; lounges; delegates dining room;
press bar and an exhibition area. Africa Hall: Also
in the United Nations compound is the famous and
historic Africa Hall where the Charter of the
Organization of African Unity was signed in 1963.
Many conferences are still being held there. It has
a seating capacity for 272 delegates with 100
microphones and 335 seats in the gallery. It has
simultaneous interpretation facilities.
Editor's
Comments: Enroute to Ethiopia last May our
luggage was weighed down with over 800 copies of
Africa Travel Magazine for delegates to the Africa
Travel Association's 32nd Annual Congress. Would
you believe the same suitcases were just as full
coming back? The reason? They were stuffed with
books, photos, DVDs and journals on every aspect of
life in Ethiopia - culture, fashions,
transportation, food, travel, tourism, investment
and business opportunities. In 12 years, our
magazine and web site have become a prime source
for positive, timely substantive news and views
about Ethiopia. Current searches of Google, Yahoo,
MSN and others prove this point. But we brought
back much more than information for our magazine's
archives - we renewed friendships from two previous
trips and had the opportunity to get to know
several of the leading lights on the Ethiopian
scene and to explore the capital city and all its
treasures.
For information
e-mail: info@tourismethiopia.org,
or
tour-com@telecom.net.et
. Web site:
http://www.tourismethiopia.org/pages/ethiopia.asp
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