Abstract:
Tourism is a mixture of activities, service and industries that deliver the travel experience. The
purpose of this research was to identify potentials and challenges of tourism in Tegedie woreda. A
descriptive survey research design was used. To attain the objectives of the study 6 kebeles
tourism resourceswere selected using purposive sampling. 134 respondents in total selected from
the six kebeles. The data collection instruments were interview, questionnaire, FGD and
observation. To achieve the aim of the study both qualitative and quantitative methods of data
analysis were used. The quantitative data werecomputed using frequency, percentage, mean and
average meanand SPSS version 20 was employed. Based on that the study revealed that the
woreda is rich both tangible and intangible / manmade and natural\ such as monasteries, battle
fields wedding and funeral ceremonies, land feature, wild and endemic animals, cave, vegetation
and climatic condition. In line with challenges the study revealed that infrastructure (health
service, transport and sanitation), accommodation (lodge,hotel), awareness (concept of
preservation and conservation), man-made and natural disaster (rubbers killing of wild animals,
wild fire, flood, land slide respectively) are found to be the major challenges. Regarding the
current situation of tourism, the study disclosed that no foreign tourist arrival registered in the
area except monasteries and caves are visited by domestic tourists during specific holidays which
remark that tourism in the area is profoundly poor. It recommended that the woreda and other
stakeholders should provide infrastructure in and around the attraction sites, create awareness,
should design destination management and conservation plan for tourismpotential attraction
sites.
