Browsing by Author "Mahelet Tesfaye"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    The Effects of Covid-19 on the Tourism Events Organized by Great Ethiopian Run
    (Addis Ababa University, 2022-06) Mahelet Tesfaye; Tesfaye Zeleke (PhD)
    The occurrences of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak have posed a risk that dramatically affects the world and mainly the tourism industry and even in particular the event tourism. The purpose of this thesis was therefore to study the effects of COVID-19 on the GER tourism events in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Both primary and secondary data were collected. In the primary data collection, 235 event participants and 30 employees were selected based on availability and completed the questionnaire. The major findings showed that concerning the social effect, more than 61.00% of the respondents were neither handing over their water bottles nor observed others doing the same during the race. Moreover, employees were very much worried, had a negative perception, and would like to minimize their interaction during the event as shown in the reported percentages of 80%, 73.33%, and 73.34% respectively. The outbreak has also brought a reduction in the number of participants from 80,000 to 31,000; resulting in a reduction of overall revenue from 25.65 million ETB in 2019 to 13.959 million ETB in 2020. Irrespective of all these, the GER office had not taken any effective measures other than canceling its events. It was not the case to consult stakeholders for alternative options. Moreover, the GER office has not received substantial support from stakeholders too on strategies to combat the effects of COVID-19. It can be concluded that COVID-19 has brought more economic effects as compared to the social effect as a whole on the organizers. It is recommended that the GER office should have considered virtual events and consulted various stakeholders for getting both professional and financial support.