Title: Tourism value chain and actors' integration: evidence from Ethiopia

Authors: Ayele Lake; Singh Apar

Addresses: Department of Tourism and hotel Management, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar City, 600, Ethiopia ' School of Management Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala, 147001, India

Abstract: The study investigated the challenges of integrations of tourism value-chain actors in Ethiopia. To this end, data was generated from 42 purposively selected professions. This included government tourism officers, university lecturers, travel agents, car rental service managers, tour operators, hotel managers, Ethiopian Airlines officers, tourism association members, and tour guides. Thematic qualitative analysis techniques were used to analyse the data gathered from in-depth interviews. Research findings indicate that Ethiopia has poorly implemented the integration of actors in the tourism value chain, neglecting local communities, tourism training institutes, and tourism associations. Stakeholders in the tourism value chain must swiftly address critical areas like marketing, product creation, destination planning, infrastructure, and human resource development. The study proposes a comprehensive framework that can integrate the actors in the Ethiopian context.

Keywords: tourism value chain; tourism actors; actors' integration; tourism planners; tourism intermediaries; tour companies; hotels; service suppliers; Ethiopia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTP.2025.148975

International Journal of Tourism Policy, 2025 Vol.15 No.4, pp.376 - 391

Received: 19 May 2024
Accepted: 04 Jun 2025
Published online: 06 Oct 2025 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article