Teshome G/selassie:”Ethiopia is the new holiday destination” [Archives:2007/1045/Business & Economy]
Ethiopian Airlines are back in Yemen, this time with a brand new strategy to take advantage of the booming airline industry in Yemen and also to market Ethiopia as a trendy holiday destination for Yemeni tourists. YemenTimes made an interview with Mr. Teshome G/selassie, General Manager of Ethiopian Airlines in Yemen, and asked him a few details on the subject.
Interviewed by Raidan Al-Saqqaf ([email protected])
Q: Please tell us about your professional background and experiences in the Travel & Tourism Industry.
I graduated from Addis Ababa University, majoring in Political Science & International Relations, and I also studied marketing in the Ethiopian Air Lines School of Marketing, after which I have worked for over eleven years in the travel and tourism industry, most of my work was focused within the aviation industry with special reference to marketing management and business strategy in Ethiopia and also in other parts in the region.
Q: Please brief us on Ethiopian's regional expansion strategy in Yemen and in the region.
Ethiopian Airlines is one of the oldest in the region, we've been flying for over 60 years to over 47 destinations in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and other parts of the world, we consider ourselves to be Africa's gateway to the world.
In line with that, we have expanded our destinations to include Sana'a, mainly driven by the growth in the number of passengers traveling between Ethiopia and Yemen, and also the socioeconomic growth Yemen is currently enjoying, we see a boom in the air travel industry in Yemen and we want to be a part of that.
We feel that the commencement of flights between Addis and Sana'a will further strengthen the ties between our two peoples and governments. Ethiopian's extensive worldwide connections seek to offer greater reach and travel opportunities to its passengers originating from and destined to Sana'a.
Our service is intended to connect Sana'a via Addis to Bangkok, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Mumbai, Paris, Brussels, Rome, London, Lagos, Accra, Guanghzou, and also other destinations.
Q: What's the competitive advantage for Ethiopian's over other airlines working in the region?
Ethiopian is a well-recognized brand in the aviation industry and is known for the quality service we provide, we deal with our passengers with utmost care and provide premium services in-flight and in all stages to ensure convince and comfort for our passengers, all at competitive rates.
With specific reference to the Yemeni market, our competitive advantage is that we provide holidays packages to introduce Ethiopia as a holiday destination for the Yemeni people, Ethiopia has a lot to offer Yemeni tourists, including those seeking adventure, site-seeing and also luxury getaways that only a couple of hours away from home. Our tourism packages are very affordable and we have different schemes that appeal to different segments.
Q: please tell us about your promotional offers during the summer of 2007?
We offer group-discounts for travellers to Ethiopia or through Addis, we also offer holiday packages for families, honey-mooners and other tourists to Ethiopia, the packages include air travel and accommodation along with other supplementary perks. We are currently working on a few more schemes to be introduced to the Yemeni market shortly which are guaranteed to publicize Ethiopia as your trendy holiday destination, coinciding with the millennium celebration of the Ethiopian Calendar, which will be next September.
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