Tourism Development in Post-Independent Eritrea - Problems and Prospects

Modern tourism in Eritrea had begun in the second half of nineteenth century with the development of industrialized society in Western Europe and North America. Eritrea has natural resources with an immense amount of cultivated land and fascinating plants all surrounded by the most beautiful and fertile mountains. Most of the explorers surveyed Semhar, Menasae, Bogos and the Barka region was covered with grassland, deciduous green forests along the river bank and sheltering a diversity of wild life. Based on this historical importance and strategic location of Eritrea on the Red Sea coast, an attempt is made in this paper to assess the tourism development in Eritrea pre and post-independence periods. It identifies and assesses the range of issues and problems, which are serving either to help or hinder tourism development. It suggests necessary actions for facilitating the accelerated development of tourism in Eritrea. The article also analyses the countries' tourism development policies and programmes