The Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Amharic: የባህልና ቱሪዝም ሚኒስቴር) is the ministry of the government of Ethiopia responsible for researching, preserving, developing, and promoting the culture and tourist attractions of Ethiopia and its peoples, both inside the country and internationally. In doing so the Ministry closely works together with different national and international stakeholders. Overview The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is responsible for developing and promoting tourism in Ethiopia, and to boost sustainable socio-economic and political values with popular and stakeholder's participation. Subordinate bodies include the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH), Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA), National Archives and Library Agency, and Ethiopian National Theatre. The Ministry publicizes the country's resources of tourist attractions and encourages the development of tourist facilities. It also licenses and supervises establishments of tourist facilities such as hotels and tour operators, and sets the standards for them. Ethiopia has abundant natural tourist attractions, including nine World Heritage Sites, but the Ministry of Culture and Tourism still struggles to attract tourists in decent numbers owing to poor investment, security, and does not have any cohesive tourism development or promotion strategy. As a result most tourists fly over Ethiopia to Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa to name a few countries. Nevertheless the Ministry puts out regular press releases every year claiming 800-950,000+ tourist have visited Ethiopia every year, despite Ethiopia having only about 3000 hotel rooms, and of that only 2000 are tourist class rooms. Ministers The Ministry is run by a Minister and two state Ministers. Controversy Despite its role to promote tourism in Ethiopia, the ministry has been embroiled in a major international scandal surrounding the Celebration of the Ethiopia Millennium in 2007. Despite written promises to reimburse participants for travel and expenses, as well as paying the hosting and production costs, in order to improve Ethiopia's poor international image at their own expense, Mohamouda Ahmed Gaas and officials from the Ministry simply refused to honor these commitments once the girls came to Ethiopia and the pageant took place, citing poverty. Mohamouda Ahmed Gaas the former State Minister and person behind this event, at one point went as far as stating that Sheik Mohammed Al Amoudi had promised, but later failed to pay a portion of the hosting cost to the Ministry, as well as many other reasons for not paying. During the visit to Ethiopia, the 37