Heritage-Tourism Resources of the Franco-Ethiopian Railway in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.

Perhaps seen as the most spectacular development of the early 20th century Ethiopia, was the introduction of a modern railway transport system. The line was built by the French between 1897-1917 to connect port Jibuti (Djibouti) to Addis Ababa crossing through Dire Dawa. Besides the basic and long-s...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Melese Kebede
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AfricaJournals 2018-08-01
Series:African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/article_44_vol_7_4__2018.pdf
_version_ 1818569811067666432
author Melese Kebede
author_facet Melese Kebede
author_sort Melese Kebede
collection DOAJ
description Perhaps seen as the most spectacular development of the early 20th century Ethiopia, was the introduction of a modern railway transport system. The line was built by the French between 1897-1917 to connect port Jibuti (Djibouti) to Addis Ababa crossing through Dire Dawa. Besides the basic and long-serving transport function, the railway certainly played a vital role in the political, social, economic, and cultural developments of the region in the years that followed. Since recent times however, railway services have become paralyzed and most of the line is now being abandoned. This is mainly due to organizational and management related problems of the managing company and advancement in rail technology which surpasses old rail systems. Nonethless, there is no doubt that it is repository of history and old rail technology, and this in turn could be an opportunity to boost tourism at major stations. Dire Dawa’s station is located almost half-way between Port Jibouti and Addis Ababa and considered the largest of all stations in Ethiopia. The research explores both tangible and intangible elements of this station as railway-heritage tourism resources to be developed in the future. Storytelling, various types of railway technologies and the historical and cultural landscape of the scene created as a result of the introduction of the railway into the area, are found to be vital tourism resources to be developed into visitor appeal. Interviews, site observation and document analysis were carried out exhaustively from January-June, 2018 to gather the required research data which will hopefully boost heritage tourism around railways in Ethiopia.
first_indexed 2024-12-14T06:52:35Z
format Article
id doaj.art-d6c4c268fcfb4423bba8d6ebc3397527
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2223-814X
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-14T06:52:35Z
publishDate 2018-08-01
publisher AfricaJournals
record_format Article
series African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure
spelling doaj.art-d6c4c268fcfb4423bba8d6ebc33975272022-12-21T23:12:50ZengAfricaJournalsAfrican Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure2223-814X2018-08-0174Heritage-Tourism Resources of the Franco-Ethiopian Railway in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.Melese Kebede0Department of History and Heritage Management Dire Dawa University, EthiopiaPerhaps seen as the most spectacular development of the early 20th century Ethiopia, was the introduction of a modern railway transport system. The line was built by the French between 1897-1917 to connect port Jibuti (Djibouti) to Addis Ababa crossing through Dire Dawa. Besides the basic and long-serving transport function, the railway certainly played a vital role in the political, social, economic, and cultural developments of the region in the years that followed. Since recent times however, railway services have become paralyzed and most of the line is now being abandoned. This is mainly due to organizational and management related problems of the managing company and advancement in rail technology which surpasses old rail systems. Nonethless, there is no doubt that it is repository of history and old rail technology, and this in turn could be an opportunity to boost tourism at major stations. Dire Dawa’s station is located almost half-way between Port Jibouti and Addis Ababa and considered the largest of all stations in Ethiopia. The research explores both tangible and intangible elements of this station as railway-heritage tourism resources to be developed in the future. Storytelling, various types of railway technologies and the historical and cultural landscape of the scene created as a result of the introduction of the railway into the area, are found to be vital tourism resources to be developed into visitor appeal. Interviews, site observation and document analysis were carried out exhaustively from January-June, 2018 to gather the required research data which will hopefully boost heritage tourism around railways in Ethiopia.https://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/article_44_vol_7_4__2018.pdfheritageheritage-tourismtourism resourcerailway heritage
spellingShingle Melese Kebede
Heritage-Tourism Resources of the Franco-Ethiopian Railway in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure
heritage
heritage-tourism
tourism resource
railway heritage
title Heritage-Tourism Resources of the Franco-Ethiopian Railway in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
title_full Heritage-Tourism Resources of the Franco-Ethiopian Railway in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
title_fullStr Heritage-Tourism Resources of the Franco-Ethiopian Railway in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
title_full_unstemmed Heritage-Tourism Resources of the Franco-Ethiopian Railway in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
title_short Heritage-Tourism Resources of the Franco-Ethiopian Railway in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
title_sort heritage tourism resources of the franco ethiopian railway in dire dawa ethiopia
topic heritage
heritage-tourism
tourism resource
railway heritage
url https://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/article_44_vol_7_4__2018.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT melesekebede heritagetourismresourcesofthefrancoethiopianrailwayindiredawaethiopia