Ethiopians living abroad are building luxury hotels in their home country, significantly boosting the coffee-producing nation’s tourism sector.

The country generated more than US$1.7 billion in the first six months of its current fiscal year and hosted 470 000 tourists during the same period – 12% higher than a decade ago.

Landlocked Ethiopia doesn’t have any beaches like its neighbours Kenya and Tanzania, yet that did not deter the average tourist from staying for 16 days while spending around US$234 daily, according to an AFKInsider report.

The government now has its eye on making tourism the country’s leading sector and aims to triple the number of average tourists it receives annually (750 000) to around 2.5 million each year by 2020, while increasing sector-related revenue to more than US$3.5 billion in the current fiscal year.

5 April 2016
Image: Gallo/GettyImages