Residents and visitors lauded the ongoing economic progress and the ever increasing tourist inflow in the historic city of Harar.
Ahmed Gibril resides in the most popular and the biggest open market of the city, Shewa Ber. He earns a living in sewing a traditional attire shiti,the common women’s clothing in Harar.
Ahmed told The Ethiopian Herald recently, almost every visitor of the city would never go back home without buying shiti dress and he has been benefiting a lot out of this business .
Most of Shewa Ber shop owners have trade license and sell various household goods at a fair price ,he said, adding in the near future, they would move to the city ‘s first-ever and biggest modern shopping mall as the construction of the mall has already begun by the state government.
As to Ahmed , he makes a Shiti dress for 10 Birr within five minutes. And he manages to earn 300 Birr on the average during bustling market day.
Yoko Inoue from Japan came to Harar representing JICA. She said : “I have a good knowledge about Harar as an ancient historical and worth visiting city. I am here for a voluntary work in women sports for the next Olympics tournament. But, I have a plan to visit the various tourist attractions of the city.”
The people of Harar are hospitable and friendly, she said, adding:”Tough it is my first visit to the city, I have already felt like home here.”
Mohamed Fezel, an expert with Culture, Tourism and Heritage Bureau, said the bureau is exerting various efforts to advance the tourism sector and the number of tourists who visits Harar has been showing marked increase.
Harar is known for its harmony and love, he said, adding, the highly esteemed social value of the people attracts every visitor of the city.
” The 11th Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Day could be taken as a clear evident to such social cohesion . What makes this year ‘s celebration special from the previous ones is that up to the end of the celebration, all visitors live in one place enjoying the peace and love of Harar,” Mohammed said.