International adventure tour operators said travelers should not be dissuaded from visiting Ethiopia as the country is safe to visit, the New York Times reported Saturday.

 

The report, which came after the kidnapping of several Europeans in the northeast of Ethiopia, quoted Pamela Lassers, spokeswoman for Abercrombie and Kent Tour operator, as saying that the company has not cancelled its four trips for Ethiopia scheduled for 2007.

 

Lassers said the sub-Saharan country is known for its beauty, the Simien Mountains, Lake Tana, and Blue Nile Falls and for its historic 12th century rock-hewn churches, Stelae Park, the Queen of Sheba's Palace, the Axum museum and the castles of Gonder.

 

Lassers said the Afar region, where a group of British embassy workers were kidnapped on March 1, is more than 800 km northeast of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa and attracts international visitors.

 

The group, made up of three British men, one Italian-British woman and a French woman, were freed on Tuesday, but eight Ethiopian drivers and translators who had been with the group when they were captured remained in custody.

 

Jonny Bealby, founder of the Wild Frontiers, a British-based company that specializes in "off -the-beaten path destinations" told the New York Times that Ethiopia is safe for tourists.

 

"What is particularly strange is the recent kidnapping of five Europeans and eight Ethiopians," said Bealby.

 

Meanwhile, the New York Times quoted Stephen Nattrass of Exodus, a British tour company, as saying that Ethiopia is safe to visit.

 

"We took over 200 clients to Ethiopia last year, twice the number of people we took in 2005, and consider the main tourist areas we visit to be safe," said Nattrass, who is the British tour company's African product manager.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2007)