The tourism industry in Somalia is reviving and one man is behind the new dawn

By: Ahmed Abdirashid Haji

MOGADISHU—Along the ever busy Makka Al – Mukarama Road lies Somali Tourism Association (SOMTA)’s head office with a large banner bearing the name of the organization at the main entrance of the office.

SOMTA front office in Mogadishu Somalia. Photo/ COURTESY

Inside the well furnished rooms sits a smartly dressed man with a broad smile. Behind his composure is a sharp-witted, go-getter. At 34, Yasir Mohamed Baffo is the founder and CEO of  SOMTA, a nonprofit tourism and hospitality  organization that promotes local tourism and hospitality industry in the country.

Yasir is a determined man who want to bring the lost glory of the Somali tourism back into the global stage considering the availability of rich cultural heritage in the country.

“Somalia has an unexploited architectural heritage and beautiful pristine beaches that are of great tourism value. Some of those destinations are Sinbusi and Baravo beaches in lower Shabelle, Bush-Bush national Park, Goobweyn in Lower Jubba (where Jubba River and the Indian Ocean meet) and many more others’’, he points out.

Reading a book at the Liido beach in Mogadishu. The tourism industry is reviving and local tourism is picking up. Photo/ COURTESY

Before the civil war, Somalia was the preferred tourist destination for holidays-goers which made its neighbouring countries then go green with envy for they couldn’t match the promising economy and the relatively stable Somalia.

Somalia has the longest coastline in Africa, stretching about 3,333 km making it a tourism hub should the country become fully stable.

When the country descended into a prolonged spate of anarchy in 1991, the tourism industry was not spared.

However, Yasir and his team are working round the clock to revive the tourism and hospitality industry through campaigns to promote local tourism with several of its members travelling within the country. They share mesmerizing and jaw dropping photos in their expedition. Since the campaign started, Somalis and non Somalis have shown interest in becoming part of the expedition.

Yasir, who is an alumnus of University of Utara, left his well-paying job in Malaysia five years ago to make a difference in his motherland—Somalia.

Coincidentally, the country he was heading to at the time was in total mess: the capital city was witnessing the bloodiest violence in decades, suicide bombing, the defeaning sound of gunfire ,buzzing bazookas , impunity and planned assassinations   were order of the day. But why would anyone quit at the peak of his career and opt for the uncertain future?

’’it’s a combination of pride and desire to serve my nation,” Yassir says.

Yasir Mohamed Baffo, the CEO of  SOMTA at his office in Mogadishu. Photo/ COURTESY

True to his words, in the same year Yasir laid the foundation for his start-up with little capital at handy, his dream was gripped with financial difficulty but he decides to soldier on despite the multitudes of problems his infant business was facing.

“When you want to make a tangible impact in your country , there will be hurdles and obstacles on your way but that should not scare you and that is why I refused to bow out at the time’’, he recalls .

In late 2012 , the aroma of success came calling  when Al Shabaab militants were driven from Mogadishu and hotels were sprouting  like mushrooms in the capital after two decades of civil war, and the need for hospitality was inevitable. The demand of hospitality was on the rise and SOMTA had the opportunity to show what they were capable of.

When the threat of Al Shabab was partly defeated, SOMTA was faced with a new challenge—how to convince hoteliers to hire their service. But after a long trial, Yassir says, hotel owners agreed to try the new venture.

“I draw a sense of fulfilment that we changed the face of hotels in the city’’, he  boasts, quite satisfactorily.

In the short period in business, Yasir ’s team orgernised a number of events for local and international NGOs  in the city and other parts of the country earning them prestige status in the hospitality industry.

More prestige followed SOMTA following its invitation to a number of international conference on tourism to represent Somalia since the federal government doesn’t have a functioning  tourism department as yet. Yasir has similarly attended several self-sponsored  internationals conferences on tourism  in Malaysia , Rwanda , Kenya , Djibouti ,Angola and many others.

SOMTA now organizes annual events such as Mogadishu Book Fair, Global Somali Diaspora, Somali National University conferences and among others.

The Somali president Hassan Sheikh recognised their effort, saying the orgernisation’s service provison was excellent.

Not Walk in the Park

Despite the short-term success, Yasir and his organization have a raft of challenges and uncertainty lurking in the dark. Financial constrains to expand their organization and insecurity in the capital are the two biggest challenges.

Just mid last year , some neighbor colleagues  members of the organization almost lost their lives  when a suicide car bomb exploded meters away from their head office damaging part of the building .

“ You can’t predict what happens next in Mogadishu. Anything is possible at any time’’, he explains.

“At the time people were asking me how I talk of Tourism when insecurity is rampant in the capital and the country at large, ’’ he recalled. “when people always sees today I always see tomorrow, and the mind of tourism always sees positives and bright future for Somalia”

Dreaming big

Yasir has one thing on his mind and vows he would see to the end of it.

“I want our  organization to be the gateway to Somalia for holiday – goers and adventurers from around the globe,” he says.  A dream “that needs time , stability, resources , commitment and hard work ’’.

They say the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams and in these scenario Yasir and his team are no exceptional for they too believe the beauty of their dreams.