Harar City selected as member of World Tourism Cities Federation

Addis Ababa, April 15, 2025 (FMC) – Ethiopia’s historic city of Harar City, dubbed as the Living Museum, has been selected as the member city of the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) at the Federation’s Hong Kong Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2025, in Hong Kong, China.

In light of this development, Chief administrator of Harari People Regional State Mr. Ordin Bedri claimed on social media that the City’s application for membership was accepted at the Summit being held in Hong Kong.

Speaking at the event in Hong Kong, Mr. Ordin said that the city’s membership in the Federation will create a great potential for the city to connect and work with other cities and reinvigorate the tourism sector.

He recalled that Harar City was registered as a member of the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) in June 2023, making it the first sub-Saharan Africa city to join the organization. The regional chief administrator is confident that Harar’s revival will continue.

The WTCF Hong Kong Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2025 (the “Summit” for short) is being held in Hong Kong from 14 to 17 April, themed “Innovate City Branding to Elevate Tourism Excellence”.

The Summit is hosted by the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and organized by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Secretariat of the WTCF and the Hong Kong Tourism Board.