Colorful Ethiopia (13 Months of Sunshine)

The iconic Ethiopian poster collection “13 Months of Sunshine” conceived and designed by H.E. Mr. Hapte-Selassie Tafesse, aka “The Father of Tourism”.

In 1961 Ethiopia initiated programs to promote tourism. His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile-Selassie assigned the creation of such programs to the young appointee Hapte-Selassie, who in turn created the Ethiopian Tourism Organization. H.E. Mr. Hapte-Selassie served as the first Minister of Tourism in the Ethiopian government and was a humble, passionate, and hands-on leader of the Organization. It was Mr. Hapte-Selassie himself, who coined the famous "13 Months of Sunshine" slogan that until recently was used for the country's tourism promotion. The 13 months refers to the fact that the Ethiopian year, consisting of 365 days, is broken down into thirteen months: twelve months have 30 days each and the thirteenth month has 5 or 6 days in a leap year. Many of the photographs used for these posters were personally taken by Hapte-Selassie.