Zeleke PhD, TesfayeTilaye, Dejene2020-03-032023-11-182020-03-032023-11-182019-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/20790Cultural heritage tourism is globally attractive to governments because it has demonstrated an ability to contribute to the rejuvenation of regional and inner-city urban areas. Addis Ababa possess historical buildings with exceptional architecture that express astonishing history of the city. As tourism sells a beautiful experiences historical buildings and architecture in physical form plays a significant role in cultural heritage tourism activities in urban areas. However most of the buildings in Addis Ababa are not maintained and conserved as heritage tourism resources. To this end, the thesis was intended to explore the marketing and promotion of historical buildings as cultural heritage tourism recourses in Addis Ababa. To achieve the objectives, the researcher employed a mixed type of research method. Both primary and secondary data were used to assess the marketing and promotional activities of historical buildings for cultural heritage tourism purposes. Questionnaires were distributed to purposefully selected, one hundred fifty (150) cultural tourists and one hundred fifty (150) tour operating firms. Key informant interview were undertaken with seven (7) selected heritage and tourism marketing experts. Secondary data were collected from government reports, policy documents, journals and local research papers. In addition, personal observation was conducted to fill the gap of primary and secondary data gathered from different sources. The analysis of the result reveal that tourists visiting historical buildings were leisure tourists coming independently on holidays, price around historical buildings is not expensive, from cultural tourism sites in Addis Ababa museums are mainly included in the package tours. Tour operators serve foreign tourists as their target market, but the finding revealed that there was huge potential of domestic tourism. Word of mouth is the single most source of information tourist know about historical buildings of Addis Ababa while, exhibitions, tourist information centers, and tourist guide books were insignificant in terms of informing about the buildings. Tour operators used websites, blogs and emails (internet) as marketing and promotional strategy. Cultural tourists who visited historical buildings were motivated by history or learning (curiosity) and architectural beauty of historical buildings. Cultural tourists visited historical buildings of Addis Ababa were casual tourists but, recommended Addis Ababa as cultural tourism destination. Unbalanced system of budgeting with the cost of heritage conservation, lack of collaboration and lack of sufficient knowledge about historical buildings by tour operating firms were among the barriers of marketing and promotion of historical buildings as cultural heritage tourism recourses. Government is recommended to manage and conserve historical buildings, facilitate and initiate the collaboration and participation of stakeholders during the planning, marketing and promotional stages of historical buildings as cultural tourism resources. Tour operators recommended to diverse their target market, conduct marketing research and analysis to understand the potential of domestic tourism, and acquire the necessary knowledge which is very essential for marketing and promotion of cultural heritage tourism.enHistorical buildingsAddis Ababamarketing and promotiontour operatorstouristsThesis