Ethiopia has won the ‘Best Destination-Archaeology and Ancient History’ award.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of received the award from the Pacific Travel Writers Association Awards (PATWA) at the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) in Berlin, Germany.
On top of the accolade, Ethiopia’s Minister of Culture, Dr Hirut Kassaw won the ‘Best Tourism Minister’ award.
Ethiopia is one of the oldest archaeological sites in the world.
The fossils of Australopithecus Afarensis (homo sapiens species) were discovered in Hadar Afar region in 1974.
The exact origin is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and is located some 160km from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.
The skulls and bones belonged to a 24 year old female Lucy/Dinkinesh that lived in the country some three million years ago.
Ethiopia was the discovery of another series of fossils in Awash in 1992 of Ardipithecus Ramidus thought to ne 4 million years old and also the discovery of Australopithecus Garhi, a fossil dating some two million years ago by a team of local anthropologists like Berhane Asfaw in middle Asfaw.
The PATWA International Travel Awards are handed out in March every year at ITB Berlin, the world’s biggest travel and trade fair.
The awards recognize individuals and organizations that are involved in the promotion of tourism and other service providers related to the industry.
MG/as/APA