STORY: After years of conflict, Somalia eager to

recapture former glory as tourism destination

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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DATELINE: 5/Jan/2018, MOGADISHU SOMALIA

SHOT LIST:

1. Med shot, lido beach in Mogadishu

2. Wide shot, people enjoying themselves at lido beach
3. Med shot, children playing
4. Close up shot, children playing
5. Med shot, Noor Hassan, a tour operator with Sahan Hotspot Travellers
talking to a journalist
6. Close up shot, Noor Hassan talking
7. Close up shot, hands
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Noor Hassan, Tour Operator, Sahan Hotspot
Travellers
“Now we have lots of people coming, daring to come to Somalia. This year
alone we hosted almost 40 non-Somalis, not Somalis, international people,
most of them Europeans.”

9. Wide shot, a beach in Kismaayo

10. Med shot, boats
11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Noor Hassan, Tour Operator, Sahan Hotspot
Travellers
“We have been hosting a lot of people from the EU (European Union)
continent and the US (United States of America) and Asia also. So this week,
we also have the first ever Singaporean citizen in our country which gives us
another, you know, pleasure.”

12. Med shot, the ocean

13. Med shot, fishing boats in Kismaayo
14. Close up shot, children in a boat
15. SOUNDBITE: (English) Yasir Baffo, Advisor to the Ministry of
Information, Culture and Tourism
“When we look at the ecotourism, the natural tourism we have, the areas that
tourists can go are beaches, Somalia has the longest coastline in Africa facing
the Indian Ocean, at the same time we have a place where the river and the
sea join each other in Goobweyn near Kismaayo, in Baidoa we have
waterfalls, we have in Bossaso hot springs, we have caves, we have the white
sands. So, all this is part of the tourism.”

16. Med shot, Mogadishu city

17. Med shot, traffic flow in the city
18. Close up shot, an officer controlling traffic
19. SOUNDBITE: (English) Yasir Baffo, Advisor to the Ministry of
Information, Culture and Tourism
“Now as you know we have a department under the Ministry of Information.
And that department is quite active now and the government, we haven’t
taken as a national policy yet, as national development level to the tourism
sector. But what we are working is that, to let the local people understand the
value of this industry. Gradually, we’re going to take it up to the national level
that Somalia, you know, to announce that it is officially a tourism destination,
Somalia is ready to welcome the world, Somalia is in the developing stage,
Somalia is ready to host events and conferences on the continent and
globally.”

20. Wide shot, youths playing at a beach in Kismaayo

21. Med shot, boats at the beach
22. Wide shot, a young boy somersaulting
23. Med shot, beach
24. SOUNDBITE: (English) Noor Hassan, Tour Operator, Sahan Hotspot
Travellers
“I would urge the world, if you want to see Somalia, feel it, then join us. We
invite you to Somalia, we invite you to Kismaayo, we invite you to Mogadishu,
we invite you to Hargeisa, we invite you to see Bossaso, Garowe, Belet
Weyne and all the other major cities.”

25. Wide shot, planes at Aden Abdulleh International Airport in Mogadishu

After years of conflict, Somalia eager to recapture former glory as

tourism destination

Mogadishu – Once, in the 1960s and 70s, it was known as the “Pearl of the
Indian Ocean.” That was before decades of armed conflict and instability
drove visitors away from Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, leaving a once-
thriving tourism a distant memory.

However, there are steps underway to return it, and the rest of the country, to
its former glory as a haven for tourists seeking a mix of beach, culture and
history – so much so that in some quarters, the country’s neglected tourism
sector, while still in its nascent stages, is being touted as a potential catalyst
of significant economic growth and employment in coming years.

That prospect received a boost last September when Somalia was admitted
as the 157th member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization
(UNWTO) at the organization’s general assembly meeting in Chengdu, China.
According to the UNWTO, which helps destinations position themselves in
global tourism markets, the spread of tourism in industrialized and developed
states has produced economic and employment benefits in many related
sectors – from construction and agriculture to telecommunications. It adds
that developing countries particularly stand to benefit from sustainable tourism
and acts to help make this a reality.

The outbreak of civil war in 1991 triggered the collapse of Somalia’s once-
promising tourism sector, and for the ensuing 25 years the only foreigners
who visited the country tended to be diplomats, aid workers, African Union
peacekeepers and employees of the United Nations and other international
organizations.

Though still modest, the number of bona fide tourists arriving from Europe,
Asia and the United States has been on the rise in recent months.

“Now we have lots of people daring to come to Somalia. (Last) year alone we
hosted almost 40 non-Somalis, most of them Europeans,” said Noor Hassan,
a tour operator with the Mogadishu-based Sahan Hotspot Travellers firm.

Mr. Hassan said some recent visitors have hailed from some unlikely
locations, including one group of Chinese tourists who came to the country in
September 2017.

“This week, we have the first ever Singaporean citizen in our country which
gives us pleasure,” said the tour operator, who started working in the industry
in 2013. “We have been hosting a lot of people from the European Union, the
United States and Asia.”

More than 150 travel agencies currently operate nationwide, and foreign
airlines operate regular flights to the capital, Mogadishu, from Istanbul and
Nairobi.

As an advisor to the federal government’s Ministry of Information, Culture and

Tourism, Yasir Baffo played an instrumental role in securing the country’s
admission to the UNWTO, and he reels off a list of tourist attractions that
Somalia offers to foreign visitors.

“When we look at ecotourism, the areas that tourists can go to are beaches;
at the same time we have a place where the river and the sea join each other
in Goobweyn near Kismaayo. In Baidoa we have waterfalls, we have hot
springs in Bossaso. We have caves and white sands,” he observed.

Older Somalis can remember an era when Mogadishu was considered to be

one of the African continent’s most attractive cities, and yellowing post cards
from the 1960s hark back to an era when the capital was famous for its wide
boulevards, spacious parks and colonial architecture.

It will take decades to make Somalia a viable tourism destination that can
compete with the likes of Uganda, Tanzania and neighbouring Kenya. But the
federal government’s Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, is moving
forward with plans to promote the country and put Somalia firmly back on the
map of international tourism.

“The (tourism) department is quite active now, and we are working to have
locals understand the value of this industry,” said Mr. Baffo. “Somalia is ready
to welcome the world, Somalia is ready to host events and conferences on the
continent.”