THE Mayor of Winchester, Jane Rutter, welcomed a delegation of officials from Ethiopia, keen to learn more about the way tourism is managed locally.

The trip was arranged by the Ethiopian Ambassador in the UK to facilitate a mission around economic development and tourism.

The guest of honour was the Ethiopian Minister for Tourism and Culture, Engineer Aisha Mohammed Musa, and a group of officials.

Cllr Rutter greeted the delegation in a reception at Abbey House, which followed a 90-minute tour of the city’s main attractions provided by Winchester Area Association of Tourist Guides.

A lunch reception was hosted by the Mercure Wessex Hotel and a tour of Winchester Cathedral was scheduled to complete the day’s itinerary.

Cllr Rutter said: “It was a pleasure to meet the Ethiopian Tourism and Culture Minister and learn more about the economic and cultural context of the country. We discovered that our cities have more in common than you might think; medieval roots, the importance of national parks and a cultural heritage that has so much to offer visitors. This was a very interesting morning - we come away from events like these with a deepened perspective of the way things work in other areas of the world.”

Cllr Steve Miller, city council’s Portfolio Holder for Estates and the Economy, said: “Winchester has welcomed a number of groups of international delegations recently – the last two visits from China have led to the development of a new Chinese website to encourage the growing number of Chinese tourists to the UK discover our destination.

"We also have plans to increase our international marketing to the USA and cruise market in preparation for the bicentenary of Jane Austen’s death in 2017.”