An Empirical Approach to Coffee Tourism in Coffee-Producing Countries: A Case Study of Ethiopia

This paper explores coffee tourism in regions known for coffee production through empirical research, focusing on Ethiopia as the primary case study. Despite the increasing popularity of coffee-related tourism activities in these regions, there is a noticeable scarcity of academic research in this area. Coffee tourism is known by different terms, including tourism with coffee, coffee-related tourism, coffee niche market, and coffee ecotourism, and is often referred to as a single-origin trip within the coffee industry. Ethiopia, the birthplace of Arabica coffee, is renowned for its high-quality coffee from regions such as Kaffa, Yirgacheffe, Harar, Sidama, Limu, Jimma, and Guji. Although Ethiopia has a wealth of resources and is becoming an increasingly popular destination for coffee tourism, it faces several challenges in fully developing this sector.

As someone who completed both a Master's and PhD on the topic of Ethiopian coffee tourism, and who is currently engaged in Ethiopian coffee-related business activities, I have continued to research this area beyond graduation. I will share my findings from extensive academic research and commercial experience in coffee tourism in this paper. The data presented are based on long-term fieldwork in Ethiopia, supplemented by secondary sources.