**4. Results and discussion**

#### **4.1 Demographic profile of tourists**

The inbound tourism market to Sidama is largely comprised by German and American tourists which together account for about 48% of the total sample. This is because Germany and USA are the leading tourist generating countries internationally [1] and according to Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ethiopia also receives tourists from these countries in bulk [36]. Ethiopian Diaspora who constitute a significant portion of the county's inbound tourism [36] largely live in these countries. Hence the same logical proportion is represented in tourist flow to Sidama. About 29% of tourists are from European countries other than Germany. Tourists in this group include nationals from Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom, which is a manifestation that traditional powers of USA and Europe remain the main tourist sources for Ethiopia in general and Sidama in particular, as opposed to other mature destinations receiving tourists from emerging BRICS, Arab and other Asian markets.

The gender distribution in the survey showed that the number of females exceeds that of males. According to Silberberg [32], women constitute an important part of cultural tourism market and this works for Sidama, an area endowed with cultural riches [21]. The survey also agrees with [26] observation that older tourists prefer cultural sites than the youth and children. With increase in age, people's interest in culture increases prompting them to explore historic things and develop a greater understanding of the past [37] (**Table 1**).

Cultural tourists are better educated and more affluent than the traveling public [13]; and the same has been evidenced in the survey with about 71% of tourists attending graduate and/or postgraduate degree programs. This confirms the contention of [23] that there is direct correlation between education level and interest in such activities as cultural and heritage tourism. According to them, the desire to

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experiences.

**Table 1.**

*Respondent demographics.*

**4.2 Cultural tourism products of Sidama**

*Marketing Cultural Resources as a Tourism Product DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93869*

Nationality (*n* = 302)

Gender (*n* = 302)

Age (*n* = 302)

Educational level (*n* = 302)

(Planned) length of stay in nights (*n* = 302)

**Variables (%)**

Americans 26.4% Germans 21.5% Other Europeans 28.8% Other Countries' nationals 23.3%

Female 55.9% Male 44.1%

<20 years 1.3% 20–35 years 14.2% 36–50 years 20.1% 51–65 years 54.5% >65 years 9.9%

High school or less 12.9% Technical and vocational training 16.2% College degree 46.6% Graduate or postgraduate degree 24.3%

2 or shorter 87.5% 3–5 9.6% Longer than 5 2.9%

learn about things beyond one's own backyard, to learn about alternative lifestyles and cultures, and to experience different things is directly related to educational levels. As illustrated by [38], cultural enrichment and self-enlightment inspire a better-educated global public. However, findings from the survey appear to be at odds with tourism literature that suggests cultural tourists tend to stay longer at a destination. Only about 3% of them have length of longer than 5 nights, which could be explained by lack of developed festivals and cultural routes in Sidama [21]. Tourist demographics in the survey reveal the exact resemblance of inbound visitors of Ethiopia in terms of nationality, gender, age, educational level and travel

This section presents the major cultural endowments in Sidama zone which are developed to a certain extent in order to be consumed by visitors in general and cultural tourists in particular. Discussion of major cultural attractions and perceived level of market readiness by tourists is provided. Survey and the resulting narrative

discussion is based on sources from promotional booklet published by [20].

*Tourism*

Because including whole population in surveys is impossible or unfeasible due to factors associated with data management and cost [11], taking samples becomes a necessity. As the subjects of this study were international tourists to Sidama Zone, convenient sampling method was employed to target them. This was done with the view to catch cultural tourists as representatively as possible given the limited international visitor flow the area. Across the survey, questionnaire was administered to 375 international tourists who visited Sidama zone during the study period. The sample size of was determined by applying the [35] formula, n = N/1 + N(α <sup>2</sup>

Where, n = Expected Sample Size, N = Population Size and α = Level of Confidence Interval 0.05 or 95% level of confidence, out of 8100 international tourists who

The questionnaire was designed either as an interviewer-assisted or selfcompletion one; and questions were translated in to German and French in addition to original English versions. International tourists were approached for data collection after trips to cultural tourist villages and other cultural attractions in Sidama and on *fiche cambalala* festival*.* The data collection was conducted between January and October 2018 as these months embrace most cultural festivals which attract

Data analysis was conducted on 302 questionnaires after 7 of them had been excluded because of partial completion out of a 309 collected papers. The data was analyzed using statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22; and tables

The inbound tourism market to Sidama is largely comprised by German and American tourists which together account for about 48% of the total sample. This is because Germany and USA are the leading tourist generating countries internationally [1] and according to Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ethiopia also receives tourists from these countries in bulk [36]. Ethiopian Diaspora who constitute a significant portion of the county's inbound tourism [36] largely live in these countries. Hence the same logical proportion is represented in tourist flow to Sidama. About 29% of tourists are from European countries other than Germany. Tourists in this group include nationals from Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom, which is a manifestation that traditional powers of USA and Europe remain the main tourist sources for Ethiopia in general and Sidama in particular, as opposed to other mature destinations receiving tourists from emerging BRICS, Arab and other Asian markets. The gender distribution in the survey showed that the number of females exceeds that of males. According to Silberberg [32], women constitute an important part of cultural tourism market and this works for Sidama, an area endowed with cultural riches [21]. The survey also agrees with [26] observation that older tourists prefer cultural sites than the youth and children. With increase in age, people's interest in culture increases prompting them to explore historic things and develop

Cultural tourists are better educated and more affluent than the traveling public

[13]; and the same has been evidenced in the survey with about 71% of tourists attending graduate and/or postgraduate degree programs. This confirms the contention of [23] that there is direct correlation between education level and interest in such activities as cultural and heritage tourism. According to them, the desire to

visited Sidama in 2015/16 based on the data obtained [20].

have been used to present outputs of processed data.

a greater understanding of the past [37] (**Table 1**).

international tourists [20].

**4. Results and discussion**

**4.1 Demographic profile of tourists**

);

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#### **Table 1.**

*Respondent demographics.*

learn about things beyond one's own backyard, to learn about alternative lifestyles and cultures, and to experience different things is directly related to educational levels. As illustrated by [38], cultural enrichment and self-enlightment inspire a better-educated global public. However, findings from the survey appear to be at odds with tourism literature that suggests cultural tourists tend to stay longer at a destination. Only about 3% of them have length of longer than 5 nights, which could be explained by lack of developed festivals and cultural routes in Sidama [21].

Tourist demographics in the survey reveal the exact resemblance of inbound visitors of Ethiopia in terms of nationality, gender, age, educational level and travel experiences.

#### **4.2 Cultural tourism products of Sidama**

This section presents the major cultural endowments in Sidama zone which are developed to a certain extent in order to be consumed by visitors in general and cultural tourists in particular. Discussion of major cultural attractions and perceived level of market readiness by tourists is provided. Survey and the resulting narrative discussion is based on sources from promotional booklet published by [20].

## *4.2.1 Fiche cambalala festival*

In past, it is believed that Sidama nation had different political, cultural and ideological structure of its own, one of the major manifestations of this being *fiche cambalala* [20]. According to the zone's department, *fiche cambalala* is a new year celebration and stands out as one of the most interesting holidays of Sidama. As it marks change of the nation's calendar, it is celebrated in great feast and community rituals. All community members involve in washing away the old year by reciprocal change of meals in hamlet. The festival, which lasts nearly for two weeks, is believed to have been celebrated for about 2000 years and features the making and playing of cultural songs; dancing and chanting on various market places [21]. *Fiche cambalala* is often performed in two levels: household and community level. Household level celebration involves feast with neighbors and beatification of girls, boys and the elderly by home-made jewelries. At community level, locals, led by the elderly called *cimeye,* head to Gudumale Park in Hawassa to perform thanksgiving ceremony.

Local astrologers called *ayyantos* determine the date of new year by investigating the positions, movement, color, volume, directions of moon and stars. This is often done one month ahead of the festival as community elders begin month-long fasting. Declaration of the first day of first day of New Year (*fiche*) will be announced when the *ayantos* see close approximation of the moon to five constellations of stars with defined movements in relation to each other and to the moon [20]. The celebration at Hawassa Gudemale Park features the eve (*fiixaari hawarro*) and first day of the New Year (*cambalala*) where horsemen; boys, girls and the elderly appear decorated with jewelleries. Once the festival is over, there comes post *cambalala* event featuring elders' dancing on "*shashiga*" day and girls playing "*hore*" dance.

The major finding from the survey is that *fiche cambalala* festival, Sidama's new year celebration stands out cultural icon of the area (see **Table 2**). With a mean value of 4.61, *fiche cambalala* is judged by tourists as the most market-ready attraction of Sidama zone. Possible explanations for this include its registration in UNESCO under intangible cultural heritage in 2016 and the associated level


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*Marketing Cultural Resources as a Tourism Product DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93869*

*4.2.2 Sidama-Hanafa cultural tourist village*

those with single attraction resources [3].

a good example of this sort at the zone.

*4.2.4 Built cultural resources*

*4.2.3 Sidama cultural house*

of planning and marketing to the festival at varying levels. It is common among destinations that UNESCO registered heritages often attract more tourists and

This tourist village is located 325 km South East of Addis Ababa, the nation's capital, around Yirgalem town. The village was set up for community based tourism by Sidama Communication, Culture, and Tourism Department; and features specially designed tourist facilities that cater to benefit women, youth, and the physically handicapped section of society in the area. The village boasts such services as production and processing of Sidama cultural foods; traditional coffee ceremony; coffee collection; village trekking; bird watching; and hot and cold mineral spring water facilities. According to the department, the village provides tourists with participatory activities where they can take part in coffee collection, production and serving; and water fetching from nearby streams. Tourists can also experience guided excursions of nearby localities [20]. A mean value of 3.77 indicates that the village is among the tourist spots of the zone and its market readiness state relatively matches tourists' judgment of a developed cultural tourist product. This confirms the contention that in cultural attractions of developing countries, products which offer collective and one-stop experience often get market appeal advantages over

Like many other traditional houses in Ethiopia, Sidama cultural house features two types of housing construction: highland and lowland houses [20]. There exists no much difference in house set up, style and interior design, except for the purpose they are built for (lowland houses are built with much ventilation openings). While both houses have *heelicho* (a pillar at the center), the highland house (*sheeka*) features the wall and its roof is constructed from the ground to the top, with the splinted bamboo wafted together like a basket. The lowland house has wooden walls with roofs thatched from the top to the ground with grass and its waft bamboo is wafted with sheath called "*honce*" [20]. With a mean value of 2.77, traditional Sidama house exhibits a modest level market readiness as a cultural product in the eyes of international tourists. Because the ultimate purpose of cultural tourists is learning [9], tourists prefer to visit tangible heritages out of which they make learning of concepts like construction. Traditional house of Sidama stands out to be

Attractions other than *fiche cambalala* festival, the Hanafa-Cultural village and Sidama traditional house stand at varying levels of market readiness stage as perceived by tourists. Among these are built resources which include Sidama Cultural Centre and Gudumale Park. Sidama Cultural Centre boasts resources in similar standings with Hanafa cultural tourist village; and exhibits collection of traditional costumes, cultural and historical ornaments. Currently the center serves as a mini-museum of Sidama. It lies on a huge park featuring statues of the zone's heroes who lost their lives fighting for independence and freedom from ethnic oppression. The center also has an exhibition and bazaar staging corridor and a meeting hall decorated by paintings reflecting Sidama cultural clothes and other traditional riches [20]. The Centre does not match a minimum cultural tourist product state of

generate higher spending than non-registered counterparts [1].

#### **Table 2.**

*Market readiness of cultural tourism products.*

*Tourism*

ceremony.

*4.2.1 Fiche cambalala festival*

In past, it is believed that Sidama nation had different political, cultural and ideological structure of its own, one of the major manifestations of this being *fiche cambalala* [20]. According to the zone's department, *fiche cambalala* is a new year celebration and stands out as one of the most interesting holidays of Sidama. As it marks change of the nation's calendar, it is celebrated in great feast and community rituals. All community members involve in washing away the old year by reciprocal change of meals in hamlet. The festival, which lasts nearly for two weeks, is believed to have been celebrated for about 2000 years and features the making and playing of cultural songs; dancing and chanting on various market places [21]. *Fiche cambalala* is often performed in two levels: household and community level. Household level celebration involves feast with neighbors and beatification of girls, boys and the elderly by home-made jewelries. At community level, locals, led by the elderly called *cimeye,* head to Gudumale Park in Hawassa to perform thanksgiving

Local astrologers called *ayyantos* determine the date of new year by investigating the positions, movement, color, volume, directions of moon and stars. This is often done one month ahead of the festival as community elders begin month-long fasting. Declaration of the first day of first day of New Year (*fiche*) will be announced when the *ayantos* see close approximation of the moon to five constellations of stars with defined movements in relation to each other and to the moon [20]. The celebration at Hawassa Gudemale Park features the eve (*fiixaari hawarro*) and first day of the New Year (*cambalala*) where horsemen; boys, girls and the elderly appear decorated with jewelleries. Once the festival is over, there comes post *cambalala* event featuring elders' dancing on "*shashiga*" day and girls playing "*hore*" dance. The major finding from the survey is that *fiche cambalala* festival, Sidama's new year celebration stands out cultural icon of the area (see **Table 2**). With a mean value of 4.61, *fiche cambalala* is judged by tourists as the most market-ready attraction of Sidama zone. Possible explanations for this include its registration in UNESCO under intangible cultural heritage in 2016 and the associated level

**Statement M SD** *Fiche cambala* festival 4.61 .78710 Sidama Hanafa cultural tourist village 3.77 .81235 Cultural foods and drinks 3.11 .82442 Rural lifestyle 1.25 .93122 Traditional Sidama house 2.77 .82307 Sidama music 1.54 .88552 Sidama dancing 3.04 .82480 Cultural ceremonies (wedding, rituals) 1.23 .92338 Sidama cultural centre 2.33 .88552 Gudumale park 1.47 .97074 Cultural clothes and other souvenirs 1.79 .95502 Eco-lodges in Sidama zone 2.99 .84758 Enset brushing 3.71 .79610

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**Table 2.**

*Market readiness of cultural tourism products.*

of planning and marketing to the festival at varying levels. It is common among destinations that UNESCO registered heritages often attract more tourists and generate higher spending than non-registered counterparts [1].
