**3. Case study**

Bishoftu is a town of seven lakes in it. That is why it was named Bishoftu in Afaan Oromo, whose meaning is full of water. Located in the Oromian region, the city is about 47 km of East Shoa zone from the capital city Finfinnee (Addis Ababa). The town is specifically located at 80°43<sup>0</sup> – 80°45' North latitude, at 380°56<sup>0</sup> –390°01<sup>0</sup> East longitude, and at elevation of 1900–1995 meters above sea level. Ada district borders Bishoftu town in all directions, and the town is a capital city of Ada and a home to the Ethiopian air force. The geographic coverage of the town is about 15,273 hectares in 2002 E.C. The major tourist attractions around Bishoftu town include Kuriftu, Babogaya, Bishoftu, Arsedi, Calalaka, Hadho, and Kilole lake. Another unique cultural festival celebrated every year toward the end of September is Irreecha which the Oromo people gather on the shore of the lake Hora Harsde where they conduct ritual ceremony (traditional thanksgiving ceremony). This ceremony which millions of people attend is believed to be the oldest form of monotheism practiced in Africa. At this festival, the people pray to God for the goodwill and wellbeing of their cattle and family, in the coming year. On this day, young Oromo are seen in their colorful traditional clothing, dancing, and singing, which are worth visiting the area.

Bishoftu is from the category of moderate temperature and receives a total mean annual rainfall and temperature of 974 mm and 18.60°C, respectively. The highest rainfall was recorded in the month of August. Geographical locations of the sampling sites are given in **Figure 1**.

The Ethiopia Central Statistical Agency population projection reported that a total population of 2017 Bishoftu city was 161,354 of which 76,529 were men and 84,825 were women. The majority (80%) of the inhabitants said they are followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, while 14% of the population were Protestant and 5% were Muslim. This indicated that the town is an area in which diverse groups live

**Figure 1.** *Map of study area.*

*Environmental Sustainability Practices in Hotels: From Attitudes to Implementation Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109433*

together in harmony and where active flow and mixture of cultural practices and indigenous knowledge exist. The people of the study area make their livelihoods on employment in government offices and private organizations, small-scale businesses, service-related trade (hotel and butcher), occupations that require skills such as wood work, metal work, blacksmith, and urban agriculture (personal communication with the city administration) [67].
