Unleashing Benin’s

Tourism Sector Growth

Opportunities and Roadblocks to Sector Competitiveness

Alex Pio
1-7-2015
Table of Contents
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................ 3
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ........................................................................................................ 4
Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 6
Objective of this Assignment ........................................................................................................................ 8
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 9
Background ............................................................................................................................................... 9
Travel & Tourism Economic Impact ....................................................................................................... 10
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness ........................................................................................................ 12
2. Tourism Demand .................................................................................................................................... 14
Tourist Arrivals ....................................................................................................................................... 14
Capitalizing on the Growing Nigerian Market ........................................................................................ 16
Overview of Nigeria’s Outbound Tourism ........................................................................................... 16
Potential for Inbound Growth ............................................................................................................... 16
Current Nigerian Inbound tourism to Benin ......................................................................................... 17
High Value Growth Markets .................................................................................................................. 18
Nigeria’s Inbound Visitors...................................................................................................................... 19
Nigerian Tourism Sector Stakeholders ................................................................................................. 21
3. Tourism Sector Supply Assessment.................................................................................................... 22
Institutional, Regulatory and Legislative Frameworks ............................................................................ 22
Statistics Management System ................................................................................................................ 23
Tourism Products & Attractions ............................................................................................................ 23
Access ..................................................................................................................................................... 25
Human Resources Development ............................................................................................................ 26
Marketing & Promotion .......................................................................................................................... 27
Lodging and Tourism Value Chain .......................................................................................................... 27
Tourism Investment and Business Environment..................................................................................... 28
4. Recommendations and Next Steps..................................................................................................... 31
Remove Structural Bottlenecks .............................................................................................................. 31
Undertake Catalytic Investments............................................................................................................ 31
Summary Tables and Implementation Schedule ..................................................................................... 33
References................................................................................................................................................... 36
5. Ancillary Report: Assessment and Strategic Considerations for the Development of the Route Des
Pêches Project............................................................................................................................................. 40

1
 Background ......................................................................................................................................... 40
Implementation Status ........................................................................................................................ 41
Ongoing Actions ................................................................................................................................. 43
Strategic Considerations ..................................................................................................................... 45
Annex .......................................................................................................................................................... 51
List of Stakeholders and Experts Consulted .......................................................................................... 51
Travel & Tourism Indicator Benchmarking ............................................................................................ 54
Regional Share of Africa’s Tourism Receipts (2008) .............................................................................. 55
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2013: Sub-Saharan Africa .................................................... 55
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2013: Benin Country Profile ............................................... 56
Lodging Establishment Distribution by State (2012) .............................................................................. 56
Benin’s Tourism Competitive Set Doing Business Rankings Benchmarking (2014) ............................... 57

2
List of Figures

Figure 1: Map of Benin __________________________________________________________ 9

Figure 2: The Potential Benefits of Tourism __________________________________________ 10
Figure 3: Benin’s Travel & Tourism Economic Impact (2012 Estimates) _______________________ 11
Figure 4: Travel & Tourism Contribution to GDP & Employment ___________________________ 11
Figure 5: Travel & Tourism Competitiveness in Africa (2014)______________________________ 12
Figure 6: Changes in Benin's T&T Competitiveness, 2011 to 2013 __________________________ 12
Figure 7: Travel & Tourism Economic Impacts Benchmarking ______________________________ 13
Figure 9: Benin International Tourism Arrivals & Receipts ________________________________ 14
Figure 10: Visitor Arrivals by Month (2011) __________________________________________ 15
Figure 11: Top Source Markets for Africa (2009) ______________________________________ 15
Figure 12: Initiatives to Increase Nigerian Visitation _____________________________________ 17
Figure 13: Nigerian Arrivals by Reason for Travel, 2007-2012 _____________________________ 17
Figure 14: Nigerian Arrivals by Purpose of Travel & Mode of Transport (2012) _________________ 18
Figure 15: High Value Nigerian Growth Markets _______________________________________ 18
Figure 16: International visitor arrivals, by purpose of visit, 2007-12 (thousands) ________________ 20
Figure 17: Top 10 Source Markets for Nigeria (2011) ___________________________________ 20
Figure 18: Top 75 Routes by Daily Seat Capacity, August 2010 ____________________________ 21
Figure 19: Government Travel & Tourism Spending (2011) _______________________________ 22
Figure 20: Benin's Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Tourism Attractions _____________________ 24
Figure 22: Key Hotel Indicators (2001-2011) _________________________________________ 27
Figure 23: Hotel Rooms by Classification (2012) _______________________________________ 28
Figure 24: Doing Business Rankings: Benin & Touristic Competitive Set (2014) _________________ 29
Figure 25: Travel & Tourism Capital Investment (2012) __________________________________ 30
Figure 26: Incentives to stimulate tourism investment in Rwanda and India ____________________ 30
Figure 35: Short-Term Actions ___________________________________________________ 33
Figure 36: Medium-Term Actions__________________________________________________ 34
Figure 27: Route Des Pêches Planned Specifications ____________________________________ 40
Figure 28: Integrated Resort Development and Site Planning Process ________________________ 41
Figure 29: Route Des Pêches Development Timeline____________________________________ 42
Figure 30: Route Des Pêches Infrastructure and Basic Services Requirements __________________ 44
Figure 31: Case Study: Coastal Tourism Development in Costa Rica ________________________ 46
Figure 32: Sustainable Design Modeling for Coastal Zones ________________________________ 47
Figure 33: Case Study: Environmental Impacts: Lessons learnt from international integrated resort
developments ________________________________________________________________ 48
Figure 34: Case Study: Decentralized Resort Development in Turkey ________________________ 49

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List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

AAT : Agence Africaine de Tourisme

ADEx : Association pour le Développement des Exportations
AFD : Agence Française pour le Développement
AfDB : African Development Bank
ANT : Administration Nationale du Tourisme
ARDET : Agences Régionales de Développement du Tourisme
ATOV : Association des Tours Operators et Agences de Voyages du Benin
BIBE : Banque Internationale du Bénin
BOAD : Banque Ouest-Africaine de Développement
CAP : Certificat d’Aptitude Professionnelle
CCIB : Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie du Bénin
CEDEAO : Communauté Economique Des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest
CENAGREF : Centre National de Gestion des Réserves de Faune
CEN-SAD : Communauté Economique Sahélo-Sahérienne
CEPAG : Centre de Perfectionnement en Administration et en Gestion
CePEPE : Centre de Promotion des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises
CFA : Communauté Financière Africaine
CFA : Communauté Financière d'Afrique (Currency)
CQM : Certificat de Qualification aux Métiers
CQP : Certificat de Qualification Professionnelle
DAPT : Direction de l’Animation et de la Promotion Touristiques
DDAT : Directions Départementales de l’Artisanat et du Tourisme
DDT : Direction du Développement Touristique
DGT : Direction Générale du Tourisme
DPET : Direction des Professions et Etablissements Touristiques
DPP : Direction de la Programmation et de la Prospective
ECOWAS : Economic Organization of West African States
ESW : Economic Sector Work
EU : European Union
FAGACE : Fonds Africain de Garantie et de Coopération Economique
FBO-TRS : Federation Beninoise des Organisations du Tourisme Responsible et Solidaire
FNDPT : Fonds National de Développement et de Promotion Touristiques
FOGA : Fonds de Garantie des Artisans
GDP : Gross Domestic Product
GIT : Groupement d’Intérêt Touristique
GoB : Government of Benin
GoN : Government of Nigeria
GTZ : German Development Cooperation
IsDB : Islamic Development Bank
kV : kilovolt
MCAAT : Ministere de la Culture, de l’Alphabetisation de l’Artisanat et du Tourisme
MCTIC : Ministère de la Communication

4
MDAEP : Ministère du Développement, de l’Analyse Economique et de la Prospective
MERPMEDER : Ministère de l'Energie, des Recherches Pétrolières et Minières, de l'Eau et du
…Développement des Energies Renouvelables
MICE : Meetings Incentives Conventions & Events
MTPT : Ministère des Travaux Publics et des Transports
ONATHO : Office National de Tourisme et d’Hôtellerie
PAP : Project Affected Persons
RDP : Route Des Pêches
SBEE : Société Béninoise d'Energie Electrique
SNV : Dutch Development Cooperation
SONEB : Société Nationale des Eaux du Bénin
SSA : Sub-Saharan Africa
T&T : Travel & Tourism
TIMS : Tourism Information Management System
TO : Tour Operator
TVA/VAT : Value-Added Tax
UEMOA : Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest-Africaine
UK : United Kingdom
UNDP : United Nations Development Program
UNESCO : United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNWTO : United Nations World Tourism Organization
WB : World Bank
WEF : World Economic Forum
WTTC : World Travel & Tourism Council

5
Executive Summary
Benin’s tourism sector remains in the initiation stage as a pristine, generally undiscovered
destination. The country’s primary touristic assets include a concentration of important cultural and
natural heritage: the global cradle of voodoo, one of Africa’s most important slave routes, among the best
wildlife parks in West Africa; Ganvié, Africa’s largest stilt-village, the Tata Somba clay-fort houses and an
undeveloped coastline. In 2011, Benin welcomed 209,000 international visitors, with US$ 187 million in
international tourism receipts. Its top three source markets are Nigeria (12.2%), France (7.5%) and Togo
(6.2%), with the main purpose of visit highly skewed towards business and institutional travel, accounting
for an estimated 78% of visitors, followed by visiting friends and relatives estimated at 14% and
leisure/adventure tourists & other segments comprising of 8% of arrivals. It had an average length of stay
of 5.06 days in 2011 and a steep seasonality, with more than 35% of annual visitors arriving in August &
September.
The Government of Benin (GoB) has recognized its touristic comparative advantage in its
stability, price competitiveness, location and endogenous natural and cultural assets and has
selected tourism as one of its five pillars for its economic development. Tourism is Benin’s
second largest source of foreign exchange earnings and the country’s third largest employer. For Benin,
tourism can be an effective tool to diversify its economy, increase foreign direct investment and foreign
exchange earnings and build on the sector’s deep linkages to create inclusive employment opportunities.
Tourism is seen as overcoming many factors stunting the development of Benin’s traditional industries,
such as lack of raw materials deposits, trade restrictions and a small domestic demand base. The GoB has
set up a priority action program to catalyze the sector and increase its contribution to GDP and recently
its decades-old coastal integrated resort development project, the Route Des Pêches has become a priority
for the President.

Benin is well poised, but is yet to capitalize on the growing Nigerian market. In 2014 Nigeria
became Africa’s largest economy, with an estimated middle class of 40-50 million. It has eight cities with
more than one million inhabitants, with Lagos, Africa’s most populous city (around 20 million inhabitants,
and the most young entry-level consumers in the world) located just 77km from the Benin border.
Nigeria’s outbound tourism has recently grown at an annual rate of 12%, spending an average of US$ 4
billion on tourism abroad, ranking 39th globally in terms of spending. Currently, Nigerians are Benin’s
largest source market, mainly visiting for business purposes (58%) by ground transport (82%); despite this
Benin currently attracts only 4.4% of Nigeria’s total outbound market.

Three Nigerian visitor segments showing the greatest potential are i) Meetings,
Conventions, Incentives & Events (MICE), ii) Business trip leisure add-ons and retreats, and
iii) weekend middle class families undertaking leisure, culture & shopping trips. The ongoing
construction of a Lagos-Badagry 10 lane highway and rail link, the recent resumption of direct Lagos-
Cotonou flights and Benin’s advantages of safety & security, price competitiveness and proximity are
important developments and opportunities for Benin to capitalize on for the growth of its Nigerian visitor
segments. However, a number of bottlenecks remain, most of which are relevant for all international and
regional visitors as well: i) Expensive air access & difficult road access, ii) language barrier, iii) unfavorable
currency exchange valuations, iv) a lack of market appropriate (targeted) facilities & prices, v) a lack of
targeted marketing & cross-border tourism industry relationships, and vi) cumbersome processes for
border crossing.

Benin’s tourism sector continues to underperform relative to its potential, lagging behind
similar countries in both relative and absolute terms. Its tourism arrivals and revenues have

6
stagnated over the past decade with an average annual visitor growth of only 2%, compared to an
average 15% growth for its neighbors and competitive set (Regional: Togo, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana).
The total contribution of tourism to Benin’s GDP sits at 6.5%, lagging 1.5 percentage points behind its
competitive set and 7.5 percent behind global averages. Similarly, tourism in Benin comtributes to 5.6
percent of total employment, which is 1.4 percent less than its competitive set and 8.3 percent under
global average. This translates into Benin having the potential to increase tourism’s direct contribution
to GDP by at least 30 percent, and generate an estimated 30,000 more jobs by improvements in tourism
infrastructure, regulations, skills and administration.

Benin’s unmet potential is largely due to structural, budgetary and capacity constraints that
continue to remain unaddressed by its public sector. Its ranking in the World Economic Forum Travel
& Tourism Competitiveness Index has dropped to 130 out of 140 countries in 2013, and it is ranked 174 out
of 189 countries on the World Bank/IFC Doing Business Index. Its tourism-related legislative and regulatory
frameworks are outdated and not adapted to Benin’s present-day context, with laws and regulations dating
more than 20 years and many areas remaining unregulated. Revisions of key documents such as its
investment code have taken years to pass through its bureaucracy and are yet to be adopted. The public
sector’s spending on tourism has remained flat over the past decade, with critical capacity limitations
inhibiting public sector tourism institutions from fully spending their already minimal allocated budget.
Unlocking the gap between Benin’s potential and its performance requires i) legislative,
regulatory and institutional reforms to remove structural bottlenecks to tourism
development and growth, and ii) catalytic public sector investments at both national and
destination-specific levels. Adequate policies, regulations and focused public investment are
prerequisites for the effective development of its private sector. The targeted structuring of and
investments in Benin’s tourism sector should aim to geographically and temporally disperse the benefits
of tourism, increase local economic linkages and promote an enabling environment for private sector
involvement & growth.
At a national level, skills development and then marketing are the most critical areas
required for upgrading. Providing training and skills development through the creation of an école-hotel
offering 2 year diploma courses, strengthening tourism trainer capacities, updating curricula & materials
would set the basis for improving tourism skills at all levels, including line-staff, management, entrepreneurs
and public sector administrators. A targeted marketing strategy focusing on three key markets: i)
International adventure/eco-tourism, ii) cultural heritage & leisure diaspora, iii) regional MICE and
business-leisure market, focused on Nigeria, as well as a national tourism brand and image are required.
A Public-Private Tourism Marketing & Promotion Board should be established to carry out promotional
campaigns and events to strengthen regional and international industry relationships, focusing on
distribution channels.
Destination-level investments in i) infrastructure, utilities and basic services, ii)
sites/attraction upgrades, and iii) local economic development to increase value chain
linkages can be geographically clustered, building upon Benin’s unique, endogenous natural
and cultural assets along the 2-3 tourism growth hubs of Ouidah, coastal areas and
Natitingou. Upgrading of key access roads and air infrastructure, rehabilitation & improvement of the
touristic infrastructure at key attractions, improving institutional arrangements for site operation and
maintenance, and providing technical assistance & organizational support to artisans, communities and
entrepreneurs would create the conditions for Benin’s tourism sector to close the gap between its current
performance and its potential.

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Objective of this Assignment
The purpose of this report is to assess the tourism sector as a potential priority sector for economic
growth and job creation in Benin. As such, this report carries out a rapid assessment of Benin’s tourism
situation, assets, priority projects, potential and bottlenecks, particularly but not limited to leveraging the
country’s proximity with Nigeria. The report specifically highlights the progress, roadblocks and next steps
of the Route Des Pêches (RDP) integrated resort development project, a current high-level government
priority.
This document is not intended to serve as a comprehensive study of the sector, nor on the feasibility of
the RDP Project. Recent major sector studies include the draft National Tourism Plan, created in 2013 with
the support of UNDP; the Draft Conceptual Master Layout Plan for RDP, updated and detailed by the Legend
Development Co LTD in 2012; and a National Ecotourism Development Plan, produced in 2011. Several
other targeted studies have been released on Benin’s tourism sector such as SNV’s High Impact Tourism
Training analysis and subsequent program and a 2010 GoB report on the contribution of the tourism
sector Benin’s economy.
Fieldwork on this assessment was conducted over a period of sixteen days between late January and mid-
February 2014, during which time over 50 tourism sector stakeholders from the public sector, private
sector, civil society and donor community were consulted (see list of stakeholders met in Annex 1).
Consultations were conducted in Cotonou, Porto Novo, Ouidah and along the Route Des Pêches in Benin
and in Lagos, Nigeria; care was taken to involve national-level as well as regional, city and site level
stakeholders. This document is based on these interviews and an extensive literature review, as well as
corresponding relevant case studies. It should be noted that tourism statistics systems for both Benin and
Nigeria are extremely weak and there is a scarcity of up-to-date visitor numbers and industry figures,
especially when looking at market segments, regional visitors and domestic tourism.

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1. Introduction Figure 1: Map of Benin

Background
Benin is a country of 10 million people, with a GDP of US$ 7.557
billion (2013). Its economy has sustained an average of 4.7
percent growth rates over the past decade increasing its per
capita income to US$ 6801. Benin has five topographic sub-
regions: 1) a low coastal area, two to five kilometers and wide
flanked by lagoons, 2) the Terre de Barre, a plateau area formed
by iron clay and marshes, 3) a plateau north of Abomey to the
foothills of the Atakora hills, comprised of wooded savannah, 4)
a north-western hill region (Atakora hills) with elevations from
500-800m, and 5) the Niger plains, a vast fertile area in the
north. It has a tropical climate with unusually dry conditions,
especially in its south.
Benin’s economy remains undiversified, relying heavily on cotton
and the transit/re-export trade, much of this informal and
vulnerable to external shocks. Benin lacks substantive raw materials deposits, extractive or otherwise and
its processing and value-added industry is generally uncompetitive. Having a small population, it lacks the
volume and purchasing power required for industrial-scale farming and other primary industries, thus most
of its production remains artisanal and subsistence-based2. The re-export market to its populous neighbor
remains volatile given Nigeria’s political environment and its oft-changing trade policies, as well as informal
border bottlenecks. In traditional industries, Benin lacks a clear comparative advantage. Its national
economy, overly-dependent on its neighbor, Nigeria, is facing decelerated growth resulting from the global
financial crisis, as well as low FDI and public investment.
In tourism, Benin finds a natural comparative advantage. It possesses endogenous natural and cultural
assets, from its pristine, 124km long coastline in the south to the scenic mid country hill-lands and National
Parks in the north, continuously rated among the best in West Africa. It also possesses unique cultural
heritage assets, Ouidah is simultaneously the cradle of Voudou, and was one of the most important slave
ports in Africa. Ganvié, on Lake Nikole, is Africa’s largest stilt village and the Tatabasa mud fortresses, in
Benin’s North-West are unique structures postulating for UNESCO World Heritage status. Benin also
possesses important prerequisites for successful tourism development, it’s considered a safe, secure and
stable country, is relatively price competitive and is close to the large potential source market of Nigeria.
As such, tourism has been chosen by the Government of Benin (GoB) as one of its five pillars of economic
development in the context of an emerging economy. A Priority Action Program has been set up to
develop the sector and increase its contribution to GDP. The program includes the strengthening of its
institutional and regulatory framework, developing its touristic sites and assets, increasing promotion and
strengthening tourism-related infrastructure. The GoB’s tourism vision is to “By 2025 make Benin a high
destination for discovery and business tourism, making this latin quarter of Africa the destination of reference for
a mosaic of cultural, historical and natural circuits3.”

1
World Bank, 2013
Figure 1 Source: Route des Peches: An Integrated Coastal Development Project- Draft Conceptual Master Layout Plan. Legend
Development Co. LTD. 2012
2
World Bank, 2013
3
MCAAT, 2011

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Figure 2: The Potential Benefits of Tourism

Inclusive, sustainable tourism can have far-reaching, catalytic impacts:

-Consumed at the point of production: Each US dollar spent on a package holiday to Tanzania generates about
three times the pro-poor impact and five times the value for Tanzania compared with one dollar spent on a bag of
Tanzanian coffee in Europe4.

-Labor intensive: Tourism is the world’s largest industry, contributing to 1 of every 11 jobs5; it creates an
estimated 200 jobs for ever US$250,000 of investment, compared to 100 jobs in the resource sector 6

-Capital-light

-Creates backward linkages with other industries (Transport, agriculture, catering, crafts, furnishings,
construction, entertainment, etc)

-Diversifies the tax base

-Strengthens social capital and skills especially of poor women and youth: globally tourism employs 70% Women
and 50% youth (under 25)7

-Promotes small-scale entrepreneurship: the annual per capital income in the Khumbu (Everest) region being more
than 6 times above Nepal’s national average8

-Funds basic utilities in lagging areas often overlooked by traditional development schemes

However, tourism can be a fickle industry, heavily dependent on safety & security, and is among the first to suffer in
an economic downturn. It is not a quick fix and can have unintended consequences of social and environmental
degradation.

Tourism’s impacts depend heavily on the way the sector is structured and regulated 9. The greatest impediment to
inclusive, sustainable benefits from tourism is the way the tourism economy is structured, its supply chains, linkages
and expenditure reach. Adequate policies, regulations and focused public investment are prerequisites to catalyze
private sector growth10.

Travel & Tourism Economic Impact

Tourism is Benin’s second largest source of foreign exchange earnings after cotton. It directly generates
2.6% of GDP, or US$ 197.8 million, and indirectly contributes to 6.5% of GDP, or US$ 498 million
annually11. Tourism also displays high levels of backwards linkages within its value chain and supporting
industries, it is the sector which contributes the most to Benin’s integrated economy, as 71% of its indirect
and induced consumption (throughout its supply chain) are of local origin12.

4
ILO, Toolkit on Poverty Reduction through Tourism, Chapter 1, p. 14.
5
UNWTO, 2014
6
W Hospitality Group, 2013
7
UNWTO, 2012
8
Field Notes from Sherpa, National Geographic, May, 2003
9
Ashley, C. How can Governments Boost the Local Economic Impacts of Tourism?, SNV, 2006
10
Pathways to Prosperity: How Can Tourism Reduce Poverty?, 2009, Overseas Development Institute
11
WTTC, 2014
12
Alafia, Bénin 2025 from 2013 Benin Draft Tourism Plan, GoB

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Figure 3: Benin’s Travel & Tourism Economic Impact (2012 Estimates)

Impact Direct Indirect

Value Percentage Value Percentage
Travel & Tourism
Industry GDP $197.8 2.6% $498 6.5%
(US$ millions)
Travel & Tourism
Industry 42,900 2.2% 112,000 5.6%
Employment
Source: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013: Benin Country/Economy Profile. World Economic Forum. 2013

Tourism is Benin’s third largest employer after agriculture and commerce13. In 2011 tourism directly
employed 42,900 people, or 2.2% of the working population, and indirectly employed 112,000 persons,
making up 5.6% of total employment14. Tourism is an expansive umbrella sector, encompassing lodging,
catering, aviation and handicrafts, among others. Handicrafts alone employ 10% of Benin’s population, with
over 350,000 artisan working in wood, iron, leather, bronze, indigo, bamboo, etc.15. The public sector
employs 204 persons in tourism-related fields.

Figure 4: Travel & Tourism Contribution to GDP & Employment

25 20
Percent Share
Percent Share

20 15
15 10
10
5
5
0 0
1998
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996

2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2004
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002

2006
2008
2010
2012

Total Contribution to GDP - % share Total Contribution to Employment - % share

Direct Contribution to GDP - % share Direct Contribution to Employment - % share

Source Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2013 Benin, World Travel & Tourism Council

13
Politique Nationale du Tourisme Version Pre-Validee. 2013-2025. UNDP, Republique du Benin. 2013
14 The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013: Benin Country/Economy Profile. World Economic Forum. 2013
15Route des Peches: An Integrated Coastal Development Project- Draft Conceptual Master Layout Plan. Legend Development Co.
LTD. 2012

11
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness
Figure 5: Travel & Tourism Competitiveness in Africa (2014)

Globally, sub-Saharan Africa ranks last of the 13 world

regions in terms of travel and tourism performance and
competitiveness: 17 of the last 20 nations on the WEF’s
T&T Competitiveness Index are from this sub-region16.
West Africa is the least competitive region in Africa,
comprising of only 2% of the continent’s tourism receipts,
with the lion’s share of 52% going to North Africa17.
Benin is considered to be at the initiating tourism stage,
along with many of its West African neighbors. It remains
categorized as a pristine, relatively undiscovered
destination. Benin is ranked 130 out of 140 countries
according to the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index,
released annually by the World Economic Forum.
Between 2011 and 2013 Benin has slipped 10 positions in
this index, as shown in Figure 6.

Source: World Economic Forum, 2013

Benin’s least competitive areas are health and hygiene, air transport infrastructure, ground transport
infrastructure, tourism infrastructure and ICT infrastructure; while its strongest assets are its
environmental sustainability, safety and security, price competitiveness and affinity for travel & tourism.
Figure 6: Changes in Benin's T&T Competitiveness, 2011 to 2013

Category 2013 2013 2011 2011

Rank Score Rank Score
Total Index 130 3.1 120 3.3
T&T regulatory framework 127 3.5 119 3.7
Business environment and infrastructure 130 2.6 117 2.8
T&T human, cultural and natural
126 3.2 106 3.5
resources
Source: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013. World Economic Forum

Benin’s regional competitive set18 comprises of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Togo; and internationally,
Benin can be compared to the likes of Haiti and Laos, as they share similar asset bases, competitiveness
rankings, tourism development stages and national contexts. Benin underperforms relative to its
competitive set averages in virtually every compared indicator: T&T competitiveness, contribution of T&T
to total GDP, Contribution of T&T to total employment, and T&T investment, both in relative and
absolute terms (see full table in Annex).

16
The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013: Benin Country/Economy Profile. World Economic Forum. 2013
17
Route des Peches: An Integrated Coastal Development Project- Draft Conceptual Master Layout Plan. Legend Development Co. LTD.
2012
18
For the purpose of this study, Benin’s tourism competitive set was selected through desk research and interviews
by aggregating a number of factors such as: geographic proximity, similarity in the WEF travel & tourism
competitiveness rankings, similarities in tourism development stage, touristic assets, target markets and volumes,
similarity in the WB/IFC Doing Business Index, similarities in general country economy & development stage

12
The total contribution of tourism to Benin’s GDP sits at 6.5%, lagging 1.5 percentage points behind its
competitive set and 7.5 percent behind global avearages. Similarly, tourism in Benin comtributes to 5.6
percent of total employment, which is 1.4 percent less than its competitive set and 8.3 percent under
global average. This translates into unrealized annual total GDP gains of between US$ 113 to US$ 567
million, and unrealized employment of between 28,000 to 165,000 persons. Much of this is symptomatic
to a national tourism sector that is facing structural bottlenecks and a critical lack of investment and
capacity.

Figure 7: Travel & Tourism Economic Impacts Benchmarking

Gap Between Gap

Competitive Benin and Between
Indicator Benin Africa Global
Set19 Competitive Benin and
Set Africa
Direct GDP 0.8%
2.6% 3.4% 3.8% 1.2% 5.2%
Contribution US$ 60 million
Indirect GDP 1.5%
6.5% 8% 9% 2.5% 14%
Contribution US$ 113 million
Percentage of
1.4% 1.5%
total 5.6% 7% 7.1% 13.9%
28,000 jobs 30,000 jobs
employment
Source: Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2013, World Travel & Tourism Council

19
For the purpose of this study, Benin’s tourism competitive set comprises of Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo; and
internationally, Benin can be benchmarked against the likes of Haiti and Laos.

13
2: Tourism Demand
Tourist Arrivals
Benin welcomed 209,000 international tourists, with US$ 187million in international tourism receipts in
2011, the most recent year in which complete statistics are available. As shown in Figure 8 below, its
visitor arrivals have stagnated since regaining their footing in 2003. Tourism receipts have been more
volatile, dipping sharply after the 2008 global financial crisis. Benin’s arrivals grew at an agerage of 2% per
year for the past decade, while its neighbors and competitive set grew at an average of 15%20.
Figure 8: Benin International Tourism Arrivals & Receipts

250,000,000 250,000

200,000,000 200,000

150,000,000 150,000

100,000,000 100,000

50,000,000 50,000

- -
1995

2002
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001

2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
International Tourism Receipts (US$) International Tourism Arrivals

Source: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013: Benin Country/Economy Profile. World Economic Forum. 2013

The three top source markets for Benin in 2011 were Nigeria (25,580), France (15,712) and Togo
(13,137); the majority of its non-regional tourist are from France and Germany21. Seven thousand
Americans arrived by cruise ship to the Port of Cotonou in 2011, however this service remains irregular
and passengers are only spending 15 to 17 hours in the country22. A lack of detailed and updated tourism
statistics hampers the segmentation of markets, however evidence suggests that Benin’s main markets are
the following:
1. International business and national seminars, estimated to account for 78% of visitors to
Benin, concentrated in Cotonou and Porto Novo
2. Visiting Friends and Relatives, mainly diaspora from France, and Nigeria, as well as Nigerians
visiting other Nigerians residing in Benin, estimated to account for 12 to 16% of arrivals
3. Mid to low spending international adventure tourists on regional circuits (i.e. Francophone
West Africa, Togo-Benin-Burikina Faso). These niche tourists usually undertake overland regional
trips with interests in adventure, cultural heritage, and nature tours, estimated to account for 4
to 8 percent of arrivals

20 The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013. World Economic Forum. 2013
21
Annuaire des Statistiques du tourisme VII, Direction du Développement Touristique, MCAAT. 2014
22 Route des Peches: An Integrated Coastal Development Project- Draft Conceptual Master Layout Plan. Legend Development Co. LTD.

2012

14
Figure 9: Visitor Arrivals by Month (2011)

40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
Arrivals

15,000
10,000
5,000
0

Month

Source: Annuaire des Statistiques du tourisme VII, Direction du Développement Touristique, MCAAT, 2014

Average length of stay has been steadily increasing in the past decade, moving from 1.15 days in 2001
to 5.06 in 2011. The annual number of nights has increased more than five-fold between 2001 and 2011,
currently standing at 1,059,057. The largest share of visitors (over 100,000) enter by road, however this
number is likely much higher in reality. Benin has an underdeveloped domestic tourism market, mostly
encompassing of the Meetings Incentives Conventions and Events (MICE) segment, institutional seminars
and retreats. There is a growing expatriate population of around 5,000 in Benin which visits cultural and
natural sites, mainly on weekends.
Benin faces steep seasonality, with August and September making up more than 35% of annual arrivals23.
The busiest travel season is July to September during summer vacations and November to December, the
year-end holiday period.
Figure 10: Top Source Markets for Africa (2009)

Long-haul tourists to Africa usually fall under one of

three general categories:
1. High-end tourists on once-in-a-lifetime trips to
premier destinations
2. Niche tourists on regional overland adventure,
cultural and natural tourism circuits
3. Low-end mass tourism on beach holidays to
locations such as The Gambia, Kenya and Senegal
The top long-haul source market for much of Africa
is France, followed by the UK and The US24.

23
Annuaire des Statistiques du tourisme VII, Direction du Développement Touristique, MCAAT. 2014
24 Tourism in Africa: Harnessing Tourism for Growth and Improved Livelihoods. The World Bank. 2013

15
Capitalizing on the Growing Nigerian Market
This sub-section explores the potential for Benin to develop its tourism sector by attracting Nigerian
visitors, and capitalizing on its structures to boost other international tourists through Nigeria.

Overview of Nigeria’s General Outbound Tourism

Nigerian outbound tourism has been growing at a rate of 12% in recent years, and was up to 586,000
travelers in 201225. Nigerians traveling to Benin make up 4.4% of this total26; in comparison, South Africa
attracts 12.5%27 of outbound Nigerians, while 9.6% travel to Ghana28. Research carried out by VisitBritain
in 2008 showed that the largest number of outbound trips (23%) were to Europe, mainly to the UK.
No statistics or studies exist consolidating Nigeria’s total outbound visitation, therefore it is difficult to
gain a thorough overview of its outbound market. It is, however, clear that this market is a substantial,
high-value market both in terms of volume and expenditures.
Nigeria’s travel account of its balance of payments suffers from a much stronger outbound tourism market
than its inbound, with outbound expenditures totaling an estimated US$ 4 billion in 2012, compared to
its inbound expenditures of US$ 816 million29.

The Potential for Growth of Nigerian visitors to Benin

Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa has over 170 million inhabitants, with a middle class estimated
to be at 40-50 million. It is the continent’s second-largest economy after South Africa, poised shortly to
become the first. It is, however, also a nation of sharp inequalities, with its per capital GDP at US$ 1,555
and over 60 percent of the population living below the poverty line; more than 80% of Nigerians live on
less than US$ 2 per day30.

Nigeria has 8 cities with populations of more than one million inhabitants, and Lagos, at 77km, (a one to
three hour drive) from the Benin border is currently the most populous city in Africa, with estimates
ranging from 12 to 22 million inhabitants. Mckinsey & Company. estimate that Lagos is the city with the
most young entry-level consumers in the world31. Globally, South Africa and Nigeria were the only
two sub-Saharan Africa countries to rank among the world’s top 50 tourism spenders in 2009,
with Nigerians spending an estimated US$ 4 billion on tourism abroad, ranking 39th globally. The
UNWTO projects Africa’s intra-regional tourism arrivals to increase to 64% of all international
tourism arrivals, or over 50 million people, by 2020. The main driver behind this forecasted
growth is expected to be increasing levels of wealth and disposable income32.

In order for people to undertake outbound tourism activities they must have sufficient discretional time,
motivation and income. Generally, the middle class is especially important for regional tourism
development as they are more likely to both save and consume non-essential goods and services. Given

25 Travel and Tourism: Nigeria. Mintel-Oxygen. 2013

26
Travel and Tourism: Nigeria. Mintel-Oxygen. 2013; MCAAT, 2013
27
Tourism, 2012 Report No. 03-51-02; Statistics South Africa. 2012
28 Tourism Statistical Fact Sheet on Ghana. Ghana Tourism Board. 2007
29
Travel and Tourism: Nigeria. Mintel-Oxygen. 2013
30
World Bank, 2013
31
Urban World: Cities and the Rise of the Consuming Class. Mckinsey Global Institute. 2012
32 Sub-Saharan Africa Outbound, Mintel-Oxygen. 2010

16
the size of its middle class, and the growth of Nigeria’s outbound tourism and spending, such a market is
seen to exist, and remains relatively untapped by its neighbor, Benin.

Figure 11: Initiatives to Increase Nigerian Visitation

South Africa, a key outbound market for Nigeria, has recognized the value of attracting Nigerian tourists
and in 2013 its tourism bureau opened an office in Lagos, and continues to organize frequent familiarization
trips and promotional campaigns in Nigeria.
The Gambia’s beach resorts are also a popular destination with Nigerians, with the country forming a
Bilateral Tourism Agreement, and investing heavily in promoting its offer to the Nigerian market.
Source: Author Interviews

Current Nigerian Inbound tourism to Benin

In 2012, Benin welcomed 25,580 Nigerians, its largest single source market at 12.2% of its total arrivals33.
The 2009 dip in arrivals could be explained by the global financial crisis, which had a profound effect on
Benin’s economy, and thus Nigerian arrivals, which are heavily tilted towards the business traveler. Benin
has now regained Nigerian arrivals to similar levels of 2008.
Figure 12: Nigerian Arrivals by Reason for Travel, 2007-2012

Nigernain Arrivals by Reason for Travel

2007-2012

20000

15000

10000

5000

0
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012

Leisure Visiting Friends & Relatives Professional Other Business

Source: Annuaire des Statistiques du tourisme VI, Direction du Développement Touristique, MCAAT, 2011 & 2014

The greatest motive for Nigerians to visit Benin has been and continues to be business, making
up 58% of Nigerian arrivals in 2012, at 14,900 visitors. Apart from the category ‘other’, business is also
the largest growth segment, having grown 48% between 2007 and 2012, at an average of 36% per year34.
Leisure travel remains low, at 3% of arrivals in 2012, and Visiting Friends and Relatives made up 10% of
arrivals in 2012, a segment that since 2007 has continued to decrease.

33
Annuaire des Statistiques du tourisme VII, Direction du Développement Touristique, MCAAT. 2014
34
Annuaire des Statistiques du tourisme VII, Direction du Développement Touristique, MCAAT. 2014

17
Figure 13: Nigerian Arrivals by Purpose of Travel & Mode of Transport (2012)

Other Leisure
22% 3%
Sea
Air
3%
15%
Professional
7%

Business
58% Ground
Visiting
Friends & 82%
Relatives
10%

Source: Annuaire des Statistiques du tourisme VII, Direction du Développement Touristique, MCAAT. 2014

The vast majority of Nigerians arrive by ground transport (82%), followed by air (15%) and sea at 3% of
2012 arrivals. Over the past decade, air arrivals remain small and volatile due to the inconsistency of
regular direct flights from Nigeria (and especially Lagos) to Cotonou. Total Nigerian arrivals have slightly
decreased (by 0.76%) from 2011 to 2012.

High Value Growth Markets

Benin is well positioned to tap a greater share of the Nigerian travel & tourism market. In order to do so,
in the short to medium term it is recommended that Benin focus on35:
a) Developing packages for Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Events (MICE) in urban and
coastal areas: a high-spending and predictable market with good growth potential that acts as a
seasonality buffer
b) Improve offers, packages and promotion for business trip leisure add-ons and retreats: a
high-spending, business-leisure hybrid which can help disperse the benefits of tourism
c) Aspire to target the middle-class family market taking weekend trips for leisure, culture &
shopping, which, although are neither high spenders nor frequent return visitors do provide
weekend occupancy, geographic dispersal, and allow a core visitor base for leisure operators and
sites
Figure 14: High Value Nigerian Growth Markets

Target Benin’s Key Constraints Key Decision Market Size and

Segment Advantage Factors Growth
Potential
Safety & security,
Meetings,
price
Incentives
competitiveness, Border crossing, Quality facilities,
Conventions Large, high growth
quality facilities in destination image safety & security
& Events
Cotonou,
(MICE)
proximity to Lagos

35 The top three Nigerian high value growth markets for Benin were identified through a rapid analysis based on average spend,
return visits, Benin’s tourism product match and seasonality data gathered from interview results and background data analysis

18
 Safety & security,
Border crossing,
Business Trip price Unique
tour operator
leisure add- competitiveness, experiences, Large, moderate
linkages, quality of
ons and unique day-trip proximity & travel growth
attractions,
retreats sites, proximity & time
language
travel time

Border crossing,
language, exchange Safety & security,
rates, quality of price
Middle class Safety & security, leisure competitiveness,
family leisure, Large, moderate
unique cultural accommodation, quality of leisure
culture & growth
sites hospitality skillset, accommodation,
shopping quality of proximity & travel
attractions, time
destination image

Source: Author interviews, background data and global trends

A number of recent developments are set to improve the conditions for increasing Nigerian visitors to
Benin, namely in easing access bottlenecks. A 10-lane Lagos-Badagry expressway, with dedicated mass
transit lanes and rail link, has been under construction since 2010, and is set to be completed in 2015.
This expressway will dramatically reduce travel time to the Benin border as well as reduce the amount of
checkpoints, therefore easing passenger traffic and making Benin a more accessible destination to reach
by road. In terms of air connectivity, Arik Air, a Nigerian airline formed in 2009, resumed daily direct
flights between Lagos and Cotonou in 2014, taking 30 minutes with an average airfare of US$ 240.
However, corruption allegations contributed to the airline ceasing operations temporarily in September
2012; and while flights have resumed, tour operators remain hesitant to utilize the service due to the lack
of dependability in flight operations.

There are a number of bottlenecks facing the potential growth of the Nigerian market, many of which are
similarly faced by most of Benin’s source markets and are further detailed in the following section. These
include: i) Costly air access & difficult road access, ii) language barrier, iii) unfavorable currency exchange
valuations, iv) a lack of market appropriate (targeted) facilities & prices, v) a lack of targeted marketing &
cross-border tourism industry relationships, and vi) cumbersome process for border crossing.

Nigeria’s Inbound Visitors

Nigeria possesses the air infrastructure and connections to be a potential hub for onward travel to Benin;
however regulatory, visa, connectivity and security constraints result in little likelihood of Benin being able
to leverage these resources for the growth of its tourism sector.

In terms of Travel & Tourism Competitiveness, Nigeria was ranked 22nd in the region, and 127th out of
140 countries overall by the World Economic Forum. Its tourism sector faces a number of key issues: i)
critical safety & security issues, ii) low health and hygiene levels, iii) poor infrastructure, especially ground
transport and tourism infrastructure, iv) policies, legislation and regulation that are not sufficiently
supportive of the sector, v) property rights issues, and vi) a poor business climate36. The country

36 The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013: Nigeria Country/Economy Profile. World Economic Forum. 2013

19
furthermore has inhibitive visa requirements (ranked 126th globally), is price uncompetitive and its tourism
is a low priority sector, according to the World Economic Forum.

As such, the number of leisure visitors to Nigeria is and will likely continue to be minimal. Most visitors
arrive for business, conventions and institutional purposes, accounting for around 3.9 million visitor trips
in 2012, or 61% of all arrivals. Leisure tourism accounts for 27%, mostly visiting friends and relatives37.
It is estimated that 6.4 million people visited Nigeria in 2012, a 4% increase from the previous year38.
Africans represent 68% of all arrivals, with Europeans making up around 17%, and the remaining 15%
comprising of other global regions.

Figure 16: Top 10 Source Markets for Nigeria (2011) Figure 15: International visitor arrivals, by purpose of visit,
2007-12 (thousands)

South 5,000
Africa
Chad Germany 3% 4,000
Benin Niger 3% 3%
Cameroon
5% 5% 3,000
China 15%
US 17%
2,000
7%
Ghana
1,000
13% UK India
14% 15%
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012*

Holiday/leisure Business Other

Source: Travel and Tourism: Nigeria. Mintel-Oxygen. 2013

The largest opportunity to leverage Benin’s proximity to Nigeria to increase its tourism arrivals lies in
Lagos’ international air connectivity. Lagos is a major air hub in Africa, with a daily seat capacity of over
1,000 seats from the UK only, and connections to Dubai, Saudi Arabia, USA, Turkey, Germany, Holland,
London, and Spain. Two-thirds of all international visitor arrivals to Nigeria are by air.

37
Travel and Tourism: Nigeria. Mintel-Oxygen. 2013
38
ibid

20
Figure 17: Top 75 Routes by Daily Seat Capacity, August 2010

Source: OAG, 2010 in Tourism in Africa, The World Bank, 2013

Despite this opportunity, several critical factors do and will continue to inhibit Benin from taking advantage
of this connectivity, as follows: i) Nigeria’s security situation, flight cost, and cumbersome and expensive
visa procedures discourage visitors from undertaking a Nigeria-Benin leisure circuit; ii) only one, local
airline will shortly begin direct flights from Lagos to Benin, which is unlikely to undertake partnership or
code-share agreements with other inbound airlines in the short or medium term.

Nigerian Tourism Sector Stakeholders

Nigeria’s public sector tourism administration is headed by the Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
In parallel, the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation is charged with the operational development
of tourism in the country. In practice, however, there is a lack of clarity between the role divisions of the
two entities. At the cabinet level, there exists a Senate Committee on Tourism, and a high-level
Presidential Council on Tourism, which is expected to meet several times a year.
Within this, ten parastatal stakeholders have mandates directly linked to the tourism sector, as follows:
the National Council for Museums and Monuments; the National Orientation Agency; the National
Institute for Culture Orientation; the National Gallery of Art; the National Troupe of Nigeria; the National
Institute of Hospitality and Tourism Development Studies; the Institute of Archaeology and Museum
Studies; and the National Theatre and Centre for Black African Arts and Civilization.
Nigeria, being a Federal Republic also has strong states which are pursue their own tourism development
plans and strategies. Several states have State Ministries of Tourism and Culture, tourism commissioners,
Tourism Boards and/or tourism development corporations. A number of private sector associations also
exist, although they remain weak, fragmented and relatively disorganized. Nigeria’s main private sector
associations are: the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria, National Association of Tourist Boat
Operators and Water Transporters, Hoteliers and Tourism Managers Association of Nigeria, Hoteliers
Association of Nigeria, National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies, and the Hospitality and Tourism
Management Association of Nigeria.

21
3. Tourism Sector Supply Assessment
Institutional, Regulatory and Legislative Frameworks
The Ministry of Culture, Alphabetisation, Artisanat and Tourism (MCAAT) is the apex body of Benin’s
tourism sector. Under it, the Administration Nationale do Tourisme is comprised of seven divisions and
agencies: i) Direction for tourism development, ii) Direction for Tourism Professions and Enterprises, iii)
Direction of Tourism Promotion, iv) Tourism Promotion and Development Fund, v) National Agency for
the Development and Promotion of Tourism, vi) Agency for the Touristic Development of the Route des
Pêches, and the vii) Benin Agency for Reconciliation and Development. The National Tourism Council,
which is on the verge of becoming operational, is to act as an inter-ministerial coordinate mechanism.
Benin’s tourism administration is pseudo-decentralized, with regional tourism offices receiving strategic
guidance from the MCAAT, but being operational funded and administered by each department’s Mairie.
Site infrastructure upgrades are often funded by the MCAAT, with sites either being operated &
maintained privately or by a region’s Mairie.

Main Challenges
Extremely low public sector capacity: Apart from lacking a clear vision and strategic objectives, the
lack of priority for tourism in the past decade is clearly correlated with stalled sector growth. Agency
directors and project coordinators often lack strong backgrounds in tourism development. Between 2006
and 2011, only 29.73% of the MCAAT’s allocated tourism infrastructure development budget was spent.
Most pipeline projects have not started nor are progressing.
Benin’s 1998 National Tourism Policy identified three main tourism zones within Benin: the South, Central
and North. Within these zones, a number of projects have been included in the government action plans
between 1997 and 2006, including: i) an urban recreation park in Cotonou, ii) the Route des Pêches
project (see section 5), iii) upgrading of the Mare Bori
Figure 18: Government Travel & Tourism Spending (2011)
zone in the Pendjari National Park, iv) upgrading of
Ouidah’s historic quarter, v) construction of a
10
touristic village in Savalou and Boukombé, vi)
Percent Share

8
construction of a village de vacances at Djègbadji 6
beach, and vii) improving access infrastructure, 4
especially piers and embarkations. Except for the 2
upgrading of the Tanéka Koko site and its 0
surroundings, the rest of these projects have yet to
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012

be implemented and many have spent the last decade

at the stage of feasibility studies.
The main reasons attributed to the lack of progress on the upgrading and value addition of tourism
products, as identified by the GoB39, include: i) underestimation of project costs and the omission of key
parameters, ii) cost overruns on implemented project components, iii) lack of qualified labor in the design,
development and construction of the projects, iv) lack of planning and monitoring of progress.

39
Rapport d’Auto-Saisine sur le Theme: La Contribution du Secteur du Tourisme a l’Economie Beninoise. 2010.
Commission de l’Economie et des Finances, Republique du Benin

22
Chronic lack of funding: The GoB’s travel & tourism spending has remained stagnant for most of the
past decade40, with continued difficulties in accessing and disbursing the existing minimal funds. In order
to make up for the lackluster public budget allocation, the MCAAT’s Tourism Promotion and Development
Fund was created in 2004, which procures funding from i) a hotel tax of US$ 2 per person per night, and
ii) a departure tax of US$ 41.8 per person, built into flight tickets.
Benin’s tourism legislative and regulatory frameworks are outdated and not adapted to its
present-day tourism context. Examples include decree n°96-345 of 23 August 1996 regulating tourism
lodging establishments, decree n°87-76 of 7 April 1987 covering the establishment and operation of food
& beverage outlets, decree n°85-500 of 29 November 1985, which regulates travel agencies. There are
no regulations on car rental professions. This lack of regulation and enforcement is due partly to a lack of
political will, and partly to poorly functioning inter-institutional frameworks and coordinative mechanisms.
On customs and border formalities, a visa-on-arrival initiative has been pursued but never
materialized. For most international visitors, visas must still be applied for before departure in home
countries, which is an issue when considering multi-country circuits. The Ivory Coast has recently
established a visa on arrival program. Regional tourist visas are being pursued in East and Southern Africa,
with West Africa lagging behind in this respect. A Tourist Visa Agreement (VTE) is valid for citizens of the
immediate sub-region (Benin, Burikina Faso, Ivory Coast, Niger and Togo; and the ECOWAS border
agreement allows Nigerians to cross borders without visas, however still requiring grey cards and vehicle
permits. Crossing the Nigeria-Benin land border and Seme remains time consuming and cumbersome.

Statistics Management System

The SDS releases its Annuaire Statistique du Tourisme annually, usually with one year’s lag-time. Benin’s
tourism statistics are compiled from hotel registration cards and arrivals at the pier of Abomey-Calavi,
access point for Ganvié. Statistics are yet to be collected from other sources, such as its airport or land
borders, although collection at the airport is being piloted in 2013-14, albeit with data inconsistencies.
Individual sites rarely keep visitor counts, with the exception of the Ouidah museum. Its statistical capacity
and systems remain weak, not integrated with customs databases and lack regular exit surveys or studies
on its tourism arrivals, demographics, itineraries, destination image, spend or satisfaction.

Tourism Products & Attractions

Benin has 113 government listed tourist sites, of which 11 are museums, 2 natural reserves and 100
tourism attractions41. Products can be categorized into three major categories: primary (i.e. internationally
unique), secondary destinations (i.e. nationally/regionally important), and tertiary (i.e. local sites of
interest). Tourism development strategies usually aim at attracting visitors for primary and secondary
products, then clustering tertiary products around the main draws. Benin’s comparative advantage lies in
the concentration of its unique cultural and natural sites in a relatively small area42. As described in Figure
19, it has a number of unique natural and cultural attractions, which remain largely undeveloped.

40
Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2013 Benin, World Travel & Tourism Council
41
Annuaire des Statistiques du tourisme VII, Direction du Développement Touristique, MCAAT. 2014
42
Generally, visitors are willing to travel internationally for primary products, up to 6 hours for secondary and no more than 2
hours for tertiary products

23
Figure 19: Benin's Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Tourism Attractions

Primary • Ouidah, the cradle of Voudou

Attractions • Slave Route: one of the most important centers of the Atlantic slavery trade
• Pendjari & W National Parks: West Africa's best wildlife parks
Secondary • Ganvié: Africa's largest stilt village
Attractions • Tata Somba houses: unique clay fort-like huts
Tertiary • Cultural Heritage, over 40 ethnic groups & tribal customs, architecture,
Attractions dance, music, art
• Nature tourism: pristine beaches, hill-region, waterfalls, coastal lagoons, lake
Nokoue, flora and fauna
• Artisanal products and markets

The Route Des Pêches (RDP) is Benin’s largest tourism project, a leisure and beach resort development
project comprising of 1,000 hectares over 5 zones in the 42km of coastline between Cotonou and Ouidah.
It is an ambitious anchor development project in the initial stages of master planning, land acquisition, and
site development planning. The project requires thorough market and feasibility analyses, phasing, careful
calibration in relation to resources, capacities and assets, as well as an evaluation of potential benefits in
relation to unintended negative impacts. An ancillary report (Section 5) reviews its i) implementation
status, ii) the identification of key strategic considerations and binding constraints to investment in the
project, and iii) ongoing studies and next steps.

Main Challenges
Benin’s underdeveloped sties and attractions are one of the key bottlenecks to its tourism industry
growth, with poor access to attractions and site infrastructure, lack of site management and maintenance
and insufficient promotion.
Lack of touristic infrastructure: Most natural and cultural assets have minimal, if any touristic
infrastructure, which inhibits them from being valorized as tourist attractions. This results in difficult
access, minimal time and expenditures at sites and subsequently low visitor satisfaction and decreased
local benefits. The slave route, for example, extends from central Abomey until the Porte de Non Retour
at the Ouidah coastline; its major sites lack interpretation or visitor facilities, are often unkempt and
dilapidated. Benin does not have a slavery nor a Voudou interpretation center or museum.
Site management, operation and maintenance: This is especially precarious for Benin’s cultural
heritage sites- which form the backbone of Benin’s tourism assets, many of which are in an alarming state
of disrepair due to lack of capacity, frameworks and funds for their rehabilitation and upkeep. The
Directorate of Culture, under the MCAAT, comprises of three technical specialists (2 architects and one
engineer) and the director. No person is officially assigned to safeguard Benin’s movable tangible heritage,
and many of its colonial buildings are degraded and unfit for use. Most of its sites lack adequate
management, operation and maintenance frameworks.
National Protected Areas: The Centre National de Gestion des Ressources Forestieres is charged with the
management of Benin’s two most important wildlife parks: Pendjari and W National Parks. These parks
are esteemed to be the best in West Africa, however continued to be under-resourced, with their
touristic infrastructure unable to accommodate the visitor inflows in its three high seasons. There is

24
currently only one tented lodging establishment in the Pendjari Park, and its viewpoints, roads and general
park infrastructure require upgrading and maintenance.

Access
Access, both to and within a destination is a key element to tourism development. In Benin, the cost of
air access and the number of international connections are inhibiting, but not binding constraints. Its
undeveloped domestic air infrastructure and networks are an important roadblock to geographically
dispersing visitor flows.
Air: Benin struggles with poor and costly air access, Cotonou’s Cadjehoun International Airport is the
sole paved runway in the country. Its arrivals hall is currently being upgraded and the GoB is pursuing
plans to turn it into a hub for various airlines including Senegal Airlines, Mauritania Airlines, Kenyan Airlines
and Ethiopian Air. The GoB also has plans to build a new airport 30km west of Cotonou to service the
Route Des Pêches and is currently upgrading the Parakou airport.
Road: Only Benin’s main artery roads are paved: Cotonou to Malanville (at the Niger border) and central
Parakou to Natitingou in the north-west, along with the Trans-West African Coastal Highway linking Togo
with Nigeria which is currently being upgraded. The link road from Cotonou & Ouidah to Parakou. Road
conditions vary, with potholes and difficult if not impassable wet weather conditions. In February 2014 the
BOAD broke ground on the paving of the first 12km of the coastal road from Cotonou to Ouidah and is
expected to finance the remainder until Ouidah, opening up the coastline for touristic development.
Sea: The Cotonou port is a major re-export destination and hosts on average 7,000 cruise passengers
annually, although irregularly. Piracy remains a concern in the region’s coastal waters, mainly against
chemical tankers; the coastal waters off Benin and part of Nigeria have been added to a high-risk category
by London’s Lloyd’s Market Association43.
Rail: In-country train service is available between Cotonou and Parakou; it is however slow and inefficient,
taking 12 hours to make the journey. Service continues to deteriorate. Its rail system is not connected
internationally; a 2006 Indian proposal to link Benin’s railroads with Niger and Burikina Faso has stalled,
although the country will participate in the AfricaRail project feasibility study to determine the possibility
of linking the systems of the Ivory Coast, Burikina Faso, Niger, Benin and Togo.44 Nigeria is also building
a rail line from Lagos until Benin’s southernmost border.
Transport: no public transport system exists in Benin, with mostly Zem (moped taxis) used for in-city
travel, and privately operated minivans and bush taxis utilized for out of town travel. There are few
transport companies, especially with tourist-grade buses that exist in Benin.
Main Challenges
Minimal and uncompetitive international flight connections: Due to inadequate and almost
saturated airport infrastructure (insufficient check-in counters, only two large airline docks), elevated
operating costs, a lack of competition and a lack of economies of scale, flights remain expensive and
connections are limited.

43Route des Peches: An Integrated Coastal Development Project- Draft Conceptual Master Layout Plan. Legend Development Co. LTD.
2012
44
ibid

25
Lack of air access to north Benin: Benin only has one paved airport in Cotonou and four other
unpaved airstrips. There is no regular scheduled airline operating within Benin, and domestic charters are
infrequent. CotAir-the latest effort to mount domestic air service folded in 2008. Ten to twelve hours
are required to drive from Cotonou to Natitingou, the hub of northern Benin and location of an airstrip.
Initial plans have been made to upgrade the Natitingou Airport in 2005 but were never pursued. Tour
operators including north Benin into circuits often drive up the western edge of Benin from Lome, Togo,
or utilize Burikina Faso’s Ouagadougou Airport as part of a West African circuit. This lack of timely and
affordable access to the north is seen as the main bottleneck to its further touristic development.
Last mile and secondary roads to access tourist attractions are in poor condition and discourage
visitation, especially within protected areas.

Human Resources Development

The MCAAT’s Direction for Tourism Professions and Enterprises is charged with tourism training and skills
development. It annually offers technical training courses lasting 5 to 7 days in each department covering
subjects of guides, catering and hospitality management. Lack of funding has reduced the length and scope
of trainings. A tri-annual skills development plan is currently being developed which will set out training
needs and objectives for the following three years. Tourism associations regularly provide training to their
members although training providers are often themselves of low quality. Nationally, only 17% of Beninese
firms provide training to their employees45.

Women make up around 75% of Benin’s tourism workforce, being especially active in informal artisanal
activities. Women are however less involved in decision-making roles both in the public and private
sectors46. Most tourism employment is seasonal and informal, which high turnover and a lack of adherence
to labor norms47. Tourism salaries are at the lower end of Benin’s wage range.

Main Challenges

Lack of tourism professionalism and poor skills at all levels, from line-staff to management,
entrepreneurs and public sector officials. This is seen as a major operational constraint to sector
development as skills remain critically low. Only 7 percent of the workforce has any level of professional
training (CAP/BEP/BTS), with 75 percent having completed primary school and 18% without any formal
qualifications48. Most public sector tourism officials lack formal tourism sector experience and training,
specifically in marketing, project management, statistical systems, law and hospitality accounting.

Lack of quality formal tourism training institutions: Benin lacks a dedicated public tourism training
institute. There is one lycee with a tourism stream until the BAC level, the lycee école de economie familiar
et social, and two higher-education level courses: a Master in Integration and Regional Development and
Cultural Heritage and Tourism. There is a critical lack of qualified instructors, and materials & course syllabus
and are outdated and inappropriate for modern sector needs. A varying number (around 20) of private

45
World Bank, 2012
46 Politique Nationale de Développement de l’Artisanat, MCAAT. n.d.
47
Politique Nationale du Tourisme Version Pre-Validee. 2013-2025. UNDP, Republique du Benin. 2013
48
ibid

26
hotel & tourism institutes exist, however they mainly host short, costly certificates of 3 months and
provide low quality training due to a lack of accreditation and oversight. Most of these tourism institutes
offer training in foodservice (13), followed by tourism (5) and hotel management (2).

Marketing & Promotion

The function for promoting Benin is housed within the MCAAT’s Division of Touristic Development and
Promotion as well as the Agency for Touristic Development and Promotion, however, emphasis has traditionally
been given to development activities over promotion; as such there is no unit directly responsible for
promoting the country. The MCAAT lacks a marketing & promotion strategy, and carries out ad-hoc,
untargeted promotion, mainly to international tourism trade shows which do not necessarily correspond
with its source market distribution channels. Unlike international best practices, Benin has no tourism
board, although it has expressed interest in the establishment of one.
Main Challenges
Lack of targeted promotional campaigns leading to poor destination image. Benin is critically
lacking in targeted marketing and promotion, and lags behind most of its regional neighbors in promoting
its national tourism product. Benin lacks a consistent logo and has no branding tag-line, or online marketing
strategy, with its website, http://www.tourismebenin.bj/ poor in information and resources. The MCAAT’s
annual promotional budget remains at a low US$ 115,000 (2013). This has led to very little brand
recognition internationally, with even its neighboring Nigeria mostly overlooking Benin as a place to visit,
yet, anecdotal data shows that when tour operators create and promote packages they do sell. Increasing
the visibility and visitor knowledge of the Benin offer is a priority for overcoming its stagnant arrivals.

Lodging and Tourism Value Chain

In 2010 Benin had 1,037 lodging establishments, with a capacity of 7,362 rooms and 14,704 beds49. This
offering is mainly concentrated in the south and are mainly small, un-branded, family owned establishments
which don’t conform to international norms nor local construction and operation regulations. Cotonou
has a number of branded, international-level hotels, including four in the pipeline for 2014: a Radisson Blu,
Benin Chain Hotel, Marriott and Golden Tulip, which will add 645 rooms. Benin currently lacks a hotel
grading system, with pilots being carried out in 2014 in the Atlantic Department on a preliminary grading
scheme.
Figure 20: Key Hotel Indicators (2001-2011)

Indicator Year
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Average
Length of 1.15 1.77 1.83 1.24 1.98 2.55 2.93 3.75 4.79 5.00 5.06
Stay (days)
No. of
Nights 191,780 302,171 320,250 215,140 348,480 458,673 562,122 704,520 910,300 999,110 1,059,057
(annual)
No. of
2,505 2,505 2,505 5,010 7,515 7,891 8,285 8,700 9,134 9,591 10,071
Employees
Source: Route des Peches: An Integrated Coastal Development Project- Draft Conceptual Master Layout Plan. Legend Development Co.
LTD. 2012; World Economic Forum, 2013

49
ibid

27
There are around 60 travel agents and tour operators in the country, the majority of which are IATA
ticketing agents located in Cotonou50. Few
operators actively create and sell packages to “When I bring my tour groups on the 10 hour drive
inbound markets, many lack international travel- from Cotonou to Natitingou, I have to pack food and
trade linkages and the know-how to establish them. drinks from Cotonou or import vacuum-packed
Support and supply services such as transport meals because there is no catering establishment
operators, artisans and caterers are with acceptable food quality and sanitation
underdeveloped, generally lacking in quality standards on the way” – Tour Operator, Cotonou
products, distribution/linkages and sales volumes to
expand.

Main Challenges
Poor quality accommodation: Average occupancy rates remain Figure 21: Hotel Rooms by Classification (2012)
inhibitingly low and are continuing to decrease as more hotels are
built, from an average of 12% in 2005 to 9.8% in 201251. Hoteliers
lack linkages with local and especially international operators, as
well as marketing know-how. The lack of international recognition
of the Benin brand and the linked low tourism arrivals adds to the
problem. Low sector-specific knowledge of owners and operators,
insufficient construction and licensing guidelines as well as a general
lack of enforcement by authorities has led to poor quality lodging
products, unfit for attracting value-added markets. This has resulted
in low profitability and thus deferred maintenance, which further
lowers the quality of the product. In addition, a lack of qualified
architects and construction workers further adds to the poor
quality of establishments.
There is a specific gap in 2-3 star and specialty lodging, particularly outside of Cotonou, which
contains 78 percent of the country’s room capacity. The north suffers from a critical lack of lodging
capacity, specifically in the vicinity of its two national parks. As is symptomatic to many African countries,
there exists a major gap in room capacity at the mid-range market.

Tourism Investment and Business Environment

Benin remains a challenging place to do business. According to the World Bank/IFC Doing Business Index
it is ranked 174 out of 189 countries. The World Economic Forum’s top four most problematic factors
for doing business in Benin are (in order of importance): i) Tax regulations, ii) corruption, iii) tax rates,
and iv) access to financing52. The tourism sector faces the same general roadblocks to doing business as
have been identified for other sectors. The main remark from Benin’s tourism industry is the lack of
tourism-specific investment incentives or conditions, such as industrial electricity tariffs for tourism
establishments53. Benin’s investment code has been widely recognized as outdated, requiring revision and
refinement. A revised version has apparently been submitted for approval over four years ago and is yet

50
Route des Peches: An Integrated Coastal Development Project- Draft Conceptual Master Layout Plan. Legend Development Co, 2012
51 Annuaire des Statistiques du tourisme VII, Direction du Développement Touristique, MCAAT. 2014
52
The Global Competitiveness Report: Benin Country Profile. World Economic Forum. 2008
53 Rapport d’Auto-Saisine sur le Theme: La Contribution du Secteur du Tourisme a l’Economie Beninoise. 2010. Commission de
l’Economie et des Finances, Republique du Benin.

28
to be accepted. However given changes in the business environment it would now require another revision
and resubmission, which is currently not planned for.

Figure 22: Doing Business Rankings: Benin & Touristic Competitive Set (2014)

Benin Togo Senegal Ivory Coast Ghana

Starting a Business
200
180 Dealing with Construction
Resolving Insolvency
160 Permits
140
120
100
80
Enforcing Contracts 60 Getting Electricity
40
20
0

Trading Across Borders Registering Property

Paying Taxes Getting Cretid

Protecting Investors

Investment in tourism remains relatively low (3.4% of total investment) in comparison to Benin’s
competitive set (4% of total investment) and Africa’s average of 6.5% of total investment. This has been
attributed to the underdeveloped nature of the sector, its structural bottlenecks and the general difficulty
of doing business in Benin. Investor profiles in its tourism sector include i) single-owner, small businesses,
such as 5-10 room hotels; ii) Investors in larger developments, often local high net-worth individuals; iii)
diaspora investors with involvement often in the form of direct investments, knowledge transfer or
distributional channels. Diaspora can bring substantial capital and important knowledge of target markets
to tourism investments. A dearth of professional services (developers, contractors, architects, etc) for
more large-scale investments is seen as a major roadblock, leading to increased costs and completion
times.

29
Benin has eleven commercial banks offering services to domestic and foreign investors, as well as the
Housing Bank of Benin, which finances real estate and furniture. In terms of security of investment financing
the African Fund for Guarantee and Economic Figure 23: Travel & Tourism Capital Investment (2012)
Cooperation (FAGACE) and the Guarantee Fund
for Private Investment in West Africa (GARI SA)
are both present in Benin. Access to finance 0.07
remains an issue, specifically for the more capital- 0.06
intensive accommodaton businesses, and the lack 0.05

US$ billion
of working capital in the first 1-3 years is a major 0.04
0.03
factor in failing tourism ventures. Tourism
0.02
ventures are often regarded as hgh-risk and low-
0.01
margin investments, with investors often opting 0
for the quicker returns of the commercial real

1990

2000

2010
1988

1992
1994
1996
1998

2002
2004
2006
2008

2012
estate market.

Stakeholder interviews have identified a number of regional advantages in investing in Benin, compared to
Nigeria in particular: i) Safety and stability, ii) land can be up to 70% cheaper, ii) lower operating costs, iii)
lower cost of capital. Generally, howeer, Benin is seen to be less competitive in tourism investments due
to the following factors: i) Tax regulations and tax rates, ii) increasing informal taxation, iii) low investor
protection (rated a low 30/100 by the Property Rights Index), iv) restrictive labor regulations and v)
elevated utility rates (specifically electricity).

Figure 24: Incentives to stimulate tourism investment in Rwanda and India

Rwanda’s investment incentives include: Kerala, India’s investment incentives include:

1) Tax exemptions granted to investors who develop a
US$100,000 or more facility
2) Airplanes and specialized tourist vehicles are exempt
from import and excise duty
3) Equipment such as bedroom fittings, swimming
pools, outdoor leisure equipment, etc. is exempt from
import duties
4) A one-stop window enabling business registration for
US$ 43 within one day.
Source: Nielsen and Spencerley, 2010, Ministry of Tourism India, 2004 in Ethiopia’s Tourism Sector: Strategic Paths to Competitiveness and
Job Creation, World Bank, 2012.
1) Investment subsidy of 10% of capital costs,
including land, building, furniture, furnishings,
equipment and landscaping to a maximum of US$
21,000
2) Additional subsidy of 15% on investment in
pollution control facilities, equipment for recycling
wastewater, sanitation facilities, captive power
generation to a maximum of US$ 10,000
3) Special incentives packages for capital investments
exceeding US$10 million
4) One-stop window to clear tourism ventures,
within 60 days for major projects

30
4. Recommendations and Next Steps

A number of immediate and longer-term activities should be carried out in order to remove bottlenecks
and catalyze the growth of Benin’s tourism sector, they are: 1) Remove structural bottlenecks to tourism
development and growth, and 2) undertake catalytic investments to unlock the potential of the Route des
Pêches and Benin’s tourism sector as a whole. In parallel, specific actions are required to reduce binding
constraints to investment and the successful implementation of the RDP as an anchor development project
(see section 5). As such, the following short and medium-term activities are recommended under each
component:

Remove Structural Bottlenecks

a) Update legislative and regulatory frameworks
i) Undertake a review of tourism-related legislation and regulation, identifying international best
practices for each and draft sample legislation.
ii) Draft and implement a law enabling the formation of tourism PPPs, in order to law groundwork
for a National Tourism (Marketing) Board, National Protected Area concessions and a Tourism
& Hospitality Institute
iii) Hold high-level participatory, multi-stakeholder workshops and seminars raising the profile of
tourism and clearly demonstrating the impacts of tourism, specifically focusing on structural
bottlenecks and constraints from outdated legislation and frameworks
iv) Review aviation sector policies and bottlenecks to increasing competition and nurturing a
domestic air sector

b) Improve the tourism business & investment climate

i) Update the investment code with tourism-specific articles
ii) Recalibrate the VAT rate for the tourism sector

c) Upgrade institutional mechanisms and capacities

i) Upgrade Benin’s tourism statistics system by integrating its data collection through airport arrivals
and land border crossings
ii) Create a robust Tourism Information Management System (TIMS). Such a system can be utilized to
measure tourism sector performance and changes over time, demonstrate the economic value of
tourism to policymakers and track and prioritize key market segments. The system should include:
i) Benin’s country tourism performance, ii) its product inventory, iii) market intelligence
iii) Institute a visa on arrival system and work to further streamline regional programs in order to
move towards a regional tourist visa

3) Undertake Catalytic Investments

Geographically cluster investments into two tourism growth hubs involving the development of
infrastructure, services, products and value chain, thus increasing synergies and maximizing resource use.
In this, it is recommended that corresponding with Benin’s product offering and potential markets, the
following two areas are selected as tourism growth hubs:
1) Ouidah as the cultural and beach tourism hub, located strategically along a key tourist circuit
(Togo-West Benin-Burikina Faso)

31
 2) Nantitingou- Pendjari National Park as the northern gateway to wildlife, waterfalls and the
Tata Somba houses.

The following investments are recommended to be carried out in the identified tourism growth hubs:

a) Improve infrastructure, utilities and basic services

i) Study to inventory the infrastructure needs & costing at key tourism sites and destinations
ii) Upgrading of access roads to key sites
iii) Upgrade air infrastructure to serve North Benin

b) Upgrade sites/attractions and create value chain linkages

i) Rehabilitation & upgrading of the touristic infrastructure at key attractions (parking, bus stops,
artisanal market, beach/water access, jetties, panoramic platforms, toilets, signage, trash bins,
museums, interpretation centers)
ii) Improve infrastructure, utilities and basic services to communities within tourism destinations,
for example at Ganvié, along the Slave Route, and feeder communities for the Pendjari
National Park
iii) Improve institutional arrangements for site operation and maintenance, including training of
community groups and associations to offer activities and entertainment options

c) Support local economic development to increase quality tourism products:

Accommodation, operators, transport, handicrafts & catering
i) Provide technical assistance and organizational support to artisans in order to improve
product quality and create distribution linkages with the tourism sector
ii) Implement a program to support Community Based Tourism ventures in upgrading their
product offering, improving their small-scale touristic infrastructure and creating marketing
linkages with local and international operators
iii) Provide business development services to lodging, catering, tourist transport and tour
operator entrepreneurs in order to upgrade their products and increase their
competitiveness

On a national scale, training & skills development and marketing & promotion should be made key areas
of focus through the following activities:

a) Provide training & skills development

i) Create an école-hotel: the Benin National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality, providing 2 year
diploma courses
ii) Strengthen the capacity of tourism training providers to deliver quality training by designing
and implementing a comprehensive teacher-training program for trainers in the public and
private sectors
iii) Upgrade hospitality and tourism curricula, training programs, materials and teaching resources
to support effective training delivery
iv) Build capacity of MCAAT & national associations to design, deliver and administer quality
training programs and courses
v) Increased satellite training programs for management and entrepreneurship promotion,
specifically targeting tourism growth poles

b) Improve marketing & promotion

32
 i) Create a marketing strategy focusing on three key markets: i) International adventure/eco-
tourism, ii) Cultural & Heritage Diaspora, iii) Regional MICE and business-leisure market,
focused on Nigeria
ii) Develop a National Tourism Brand and Image
iii) Produce specific, targeted international quality marketing collateral and campaigns for key
niche markets
iv) Carry out promotional campaigns and organize industry and operator familiarization trips and
networking events to sell Benin on a regional and international scale
v) Provide technical assistance to improve promotional collateral, packaging and selling to
tourism site/attraction operators and administrators within Benin
vi) Create a domestic tourism promotion plan and campaign focused on festivals and cultural
heritage

Summary Tables and Implementation Schedule

The recommended activities have been oriented between short and medium term actions, with
responsible entities and an estimated budget. Activities require sequencing within their own categories
(above) in order to be effective.
Figure 25: Short-Term Actions

Responsible
Activity Timeframe
Entity
Revise Route Des Pêches Development and undertake market,
costing, land use, and detailed site plans along with drafting of Year 1-3 MCAAT
regulations and studies
Draft and implement a law enabling the formation of tourism
SP-Centre de
PPPs, in order to law groundwork for a National Tourism
Year 1 Promotion des
(Marketing) Board, National Protected Area concessions and
Investissements
tourism & hospitality institute
Review aviation sector policies and bottlenecks to increasing Agence Nationale
Year 1
competition and nurturing a domestic air sector de l'Aviation Civile
Study to inventory the infrastructure & basic service needs &
Year 1-2 MCAAT & MTPT
costing at key tourism sites and destinations
Undertake a review of tourism-related legislation and
regulation, identifying international best practices for each and Year 1-2 CPI & MCAAT
draft sample legislation
Upgrade the National Statistics Management and
Dissemination System by integrating its data collection through Year 1-2 MCAAT & MISPC
airport arrivals and land border crossings
Create a marketing strategy focusing on three key markets: i)
International adventure/eco-tourism, ii) Cultural & Heritage
Year 1-2 MCAAT
Diaspora, iii) Regional MICE and business-leisure market,
focused on Nigeria
Hold high-level participatory, multi-stakeholder workshops and
Conseil de
seminars raising the profile of tourism and clearly
Year 2 Tourisme &
demonstrating the unrealized gains from outdated legislation
MCAAT
and frameworks
Update the investment code with tourism-specific articles Year 2 CPI
Develop a National Tourism Brand and Image Year 2-3 MCAAT

33
 Create a domestic tourism promotion plan and campaign
Year 2-3 MCAAT
focused on festivals and cultural heritage
Produce specific, targeted international quality marketing
Year 3-4 MCAAT
collateral and campaigns for key niche markets
Institute a visa on arrival system Year 3-4 MISPC & MCAAT

Figure 26: Medium-Term Actions

Responsible
Activity Timeframe
Entity
Rehabilitation & upgrading of the touristic infrastructure at
key attractions (parking, bus stops, artisanal market,
Year 4-7 MCAAT
beach/water access, jetties, panoramic platforms, toilets,
signage, trash bins)
Carry out promotional campaigns and organize industry and
operator familiarization trips and networking events to sell Year 4-7 MCAAT
Benin on a regional and international scale
MCAAT & Institut
National de la
Create a robust Tourism Information Management System
statistique et de
(TIMS), including: i) Benin’s country tourism performance, ii) Year 4-7
analyse
its product inventory, iii) market intelligence
économique du
Bénin
Upgrading of access roads to key sites Year 4-7 MCAAT and MTPT
Improve infrastructure, utilities and basic services to
communities within tourism destinations (i.e. Ganvié, the
Year 4-7 MCAAT and MTPT
community on the Slave Route, the feeder community for
Pendjari National Park)
Provide technical assistance to improve promotional
collateral, packaging and selling to tourism site/attraction Year 5-8 MCAAT
operators and administrators within Benin
Improve institutional arrangements for site operation and
maintenance, including training of community groups and Year 5-7 MCAAT & Mairies
associations
Provide technical assistance and organizational support to
artisans in order to improve product quality and create Year 5-8 MCAAT
distribution linkages with the tourism sector
Implement a program to support Community Based Tourism
ventures in upgrading their product offering, improving their
Year 5-9 MCAAT
small-scale touristic infrastructure and creating marketing
linkages with local and international operators
Upgrade hospitality and tourism curricula, training programs, MCAAT &
materials and teaching resources to support effective training Year 6-9 MESFTPRIJ &
delivery Private Partners
Increased satellite training programs for management and MCAAT & Ministre
entrepreneurship promotion, specifically targeting tourism de l’Industrie, du
growth poles Year 6-9 Commerce, des
Petites et
Moyennes

34
 Entreprises
(MICPME)
Build capacity of MCAAT & national associations to design,
Year 6-10 MCAAT
deliver and administer quality training programs and courses
Provide business development services to lodging, catering,
MCAAT &
tourist transport and tour operator entrepreneurs in order to Year 6-10
MICPME
upgrade their products and increase their competitiveness
MCAAT & Ministre
de l’Enseignement
Secondaire, de la
Formation
Create an école-hotel: Benin National Institute of Tourism Technique et
Year 7
and Hospitality, providing 2 year diploma courses Professionnelle, de
la Reconversion et
de l’Insertion des
Jeunes (MESFTPRIJ)
& Private Partners
Strengthen the capacity of tourism training providers to deliver
MCAAT &
quality training by designing and implementing a comprehensive
Year 7-10 MESFTPRIJ &
teacher-training program for trainers in the public and private
Private Partners
sectors
Upgrade air infrastructure to serve North Benin Agence Nationale
Year 8
de l'Aviation Civile

35
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World Bank Group. 2014. “Doing Business 2014: Togo Economy Profile.”. World Bank, Washington, D.C.

39
5. Ancillary Report: Assessment and Strategic Considerations
for the Development of the Route Des Pêches Project

The Route Des Pêches (RDP) is Benin’s largest tourism project, with potentially far-reaching national
implications. As such, this sub-section provides a rapid assessment of the mega-project, specifically focusing
on the following elements: i) A review of its implementation status, ii) the identification of key strategic
considerations and binding constraints to investment in the project, and iii) Ongoing studies and next
steps.

Background
The RDP is a large-scale leisure and beach resort development project comprising of 1,000 hectares over
5 zones in the 42km of coastline between Cotonou and Ouidah. It proposes developing 5,200 hotel rooms,
780 houses and 1,800 residential parcels, including facilities such as restaurants, theme parks, marinas,
sports centers, a nature park, a casino, a Chinese village, conference centers, a hotel training center, and
a hospital, among other amenities.
The RDP is considered as an integrated resort development project; this type of development provides a
convenient, safe, structured environment, with prescribed quality offers from which a tourist may pursue
a planned pattern of activities or individual programs.
The strategic rationale behind the RDP is to serve as an anchor development to create a critical mass of
touristic demand as to catalyze the Benin tourism sector- such as increases in flights, reduction in airfares,
development of satellite sites and products, value chain linkages and support services. For this, a certain
number of rooms and facilities at given quality are required. The required capacity may be determined by
a combination of factors including the space available, number of visitor types, catchment populations,
visitor expectations and requirements, and the willingness of the visitor to pay for services.
Linked with this is the calibration of a destination’s carrying capacity, as well as Limits of Acceptable Change,
which determine the range before which development becomes socially and environmentally detrimental.
This takes into account the natural, human and eco-economic carrying capacities. The RDP concept has
gone through several iterations, most recently increasing its ambitions from 250 hectares and 1,765 rooms
in 2008 to 1,000 hectares and 5,200 rooms in 2013. It is unclear whether sufficient market studies or
carrying capacity estimates were consulted in the scaling-up of planned developments, with international
experience suggesting that the optimum capacity for an anchor development in Benin is much lower.

Figure 27: Route Des Pêches Planned Specifications

Element 2008 Master Plan 2013 Master Plan

Number of Hectares 250 hectares 1,000 hectares
Number of Rooms 1,765 rooms 5,200 rooms
Number of residential 300 parcels 1,800 parcels
parcels
Number of houses 774 houses 780 houses
Usable Land 7 categories of usable land 9 categories of usable land
Number of Zones 4 Zones 5 Zones
Source: Route des Peches: An Integrated Coastal Development Project- Draft Conceptual Master Layout Plan. Legend Development Co.
LTD. 2012

40
Institutional arrangements: The RDP Tourism Development Agency is an autonomous, coordinative
agency for the RDP Project, housed under the MCAAT. It acts as the secretariat for the Program Steering
Committee, presided over directly by the President of Benin, and composed of stakeholder Ministries of
the project; the committee meets weekly. The RDP Tourism Development Agency is currently finalizing
its operational bylaws.
Resettlement of Project Affected Persons: A committee for the resettlement and compensation of
Project Affected Persons has been formed by decree n°2008-244 of 06 May 2008. A number of articles in
this decree are being modified and re-submitted for approval to finalize its operationalization. The
committee currently lacks an updated resettlement framework and compensation rates, as well as
financing resources to carry out the resettlements.
Legal Frameworks: A number of regulatory acts submitted since 2005 have declared the RDP zones as
public utility, most notably decree n°2005-684 of 03 November 2005 classifying the area a tourism
development zone to be exclusively developed as the Route Des Pêches in order to zone and secure the
dedicated land. The most recent order is the order n°2/275/DEP-ATL-LITT/SG/SPAT of 02 December
2012.

Figure 28: Integrated Resort Development and Site Planning Process

The integrated resort development and site planning process:

1. Market research to determine the market segments to be serviced by the resort, and consequently
their infrastructure, design and activity wants and needs
2. Selection of general locations. Considerations include: Accessibility, scenic attraction, capacity for
development, service infrastructure, potential labor pool, catchment population area, land availability
and ownership
3. Site selection
4. Concept creation (based on market research)
5. Feasibility study, including preliminary detailed site assessment. Considerations include: market
potential, infrastructure & utility requirements, engineering requirements, site spacing & allocation,
support services (service town) and project phasing
6. Refinement of the concept and detailed proposals, architectural parameters, detailed land use and
infrastructure planning, construction parameters and guidelines, site use and visitor flows, infrastructure
& site operation & management, investor strategy

Source: Guidelines on Integrated Planning for Sustainable Tourism Development. UNESCAP. 1999

Implementation Status
The RDP idea first surfaced in the mid-1980s, with the government formally embracing the concept in
October 2001. There have since been two Master Plans completed, one in 2008 and a second, significantly
expanded version in 2013/14. An Environmental Impact Assessment was carried out for the initial plan,
however has not been updated to encompass the scaling-up proposed in the 2013 master plan. Despite
more than a decade in the making, the RDP Project has had difficulties in becoming a reality. There is
currently high-level renewed interest by the President for its implementation. The project, however,
continues to face a number of capacity, financing and viability constraints. Figure 29 illustrates a timeline
of key project developments.

41
Figure 29: Route Des Pêches Development Timeline

GoB allocates US$ 1
million for feasibility and
site selection studies
GoB launches RTP
concept & creates an
inter-ministerial
technical committee
Committee for
resettlement and
compensation is
Environmental Impact operationalized and
Assessment Completed begins holding hearings
Studies estimated that a West African Development
5-site, 2,000 room Bank (BOAD) commits to
Agence de finance the first 12km of
development would cost
Developpement et the RTP road
the GoB US$84 million to
Promotion Touristique de
develop Second Master Plan draft
la RTP re-instated
released, requalifying
Initial RTP feasibility
investment to 5,000 rooms
study completed
and further diversifying
product offerings

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

Dossier de Financement
was completed First Master Plan
released, increasing
GoB allocates US$ requirements to 3,000
62,000 for initial RTP rooms and diverse
studies product offerings
Exploratory study carried
out, site selection and Incoming President
zone delimiations Agence de increased the support for GoB Breaks ground on
Developpemen and political will to the construction of the
t et Promotion develop the RTP National Theatre along
Touristique de Cellule d’Exécution du the RTP
la RTP created Projet de la Route des
(autonomous Pêches was created,
agency) within the now MCAAT

42
A number of technical works have been completed to-date, as follows:
 Initial feasibility studies defining the specific program and viability of site development and
economic feasibility
 Initial program for land planning regulations
 Studies on the Project’s fiscal impact
 Creation of a promotional DVD & signage along the RDP
 Program intervention strategy design
 A study by the committee for resettlement and compensation of Project Affected Persons has
been submitted for approval to the Council of Ministers
 Stakeholder meetings and site visits on resettlement

Ongoing Actions
The RDP Tourism Development Agency has elaborated a 2014-2015 action plan, which includes i)
resettlement and compensation of project affected persons, ii) mobilization of external resources, iii)
investor search, and iv) site development. This action plan is overseen by the President, coordinated by
the Agency and implemented by the concerned public sector entities. A number of actions are currently
being pursued under each category:
Resettlement
 Stakeholder meetings and discussions on land access and resettlement and general awareness
raising
 Resettlement & Compensation: Database of residents, construction areas delimitation,
compensation rates scheme and process (the 2006 evaluation needs to be updated in light of
design changes)
 Elaboration and planning of activities and budget of the Steering Committee and the resettlement
and compensation committee
 Preliminary hearings on resettlement

Investor Search
 Creation of a new code for civil and administrative procedures and a law for Public Private
Partnerships
 Financing and investor search
 Drafting of special investment incentives for RDP (currently awaiting cabinet approval)

Site Development
 A Master Plan produced by a Chinese investment company, Legend Development Co is being
submitted to the council for approval
 Architectural plans for each zone are being completed by Legend Development Company, submitted
in March 2014
 Studies on the creation of a hotel training institute (with adjacent training hotel) (in progress)
 Studies on the creation of a sports training program (in progress)
 Feasibility studies on the construction of an international-quality hospital (in progress)

43
Regarding site development, in 2013 the West African Development Bank (BOAD) has committed to
financing the first tranche (12km) of the 42km coastal road breaking ground in February 2014; the BOAD
is currently in discussions to finance the remaining coastal road section as well, until Bouche du Roi (just
after Ouidah). In order to prepare the sites for development, a host of infrastructure and basic services
are required, including secondary and tertiary roads, electricity extensions, ICT (internet and telecom)
extensions, water supply, sewerage and landscaping. Figure 28 outlines the current status, requirements
and next steps for each.

Figure 30: Route Des Pêches Infrastructure and Basic Services Requirements

Requirements and Responsible

Category Status
Next Steps Entity
Currently a coastal dirt road connects the The BOAD is in Ministère des
RDP. The BOAD has committed to discussions to finance the Travaux
financing the paving of the first 12.55km of remaining coastal road Publics et des
Coastal Road the coastal road (Cotonou – Adounko). paving, preliminary studies
Transports
The road will be paved with two lanes in are already underway.
each direction. (MTPT)

Secondary No plans, studies nor funding currently Planning and costing of

and Tertiary exist to address the needs of secondary secondary and tertiary MTPT
Roads and tertiary roads within each zone. access roads
Benin mainly sources power from Connections to RDP
Ministère de
neighboring countries. Currently no would be possible by
l'Energie, des
electricity exists along the majority of the extending the line serving
Recherches
RDP. Fiyegnon 1 and 2
Pétrolières et
Cotonou’s medium-voltage power supply neighborhoods at
Minières, de
is carried out under 15kV. From Fidjrosse, Fidjrosse. An underground
l'Eau et du
a low-voltage network 230/400 V exists 15kV High Voltage line
Electricity Développeme
along the beach and extends 3km to along the coastal 42km is
nt des
Togbin beach. Ouidah is serviced by a recommended
Energies
medium voltage supply at 20kV, extended
Renouvelables
until the Door of No Return. Current
(MERPMEDER
power supplies are unable to meet
), SBEE,
resident needs, with frequent blackouts;
SONEB
the RDP is likely to exacerbate this issue.
No telecommunication infrastructure Fibre optic cable system,
Ministère de
exists. Cotonou’s Western urban possibly underground
Information la
networks are near saturation. The utility corridor.
Communicat Communicati
Airport’s telecom connection requires
ion on (MCTIC) /
extension. At Pahou, telecommunications
Technology CTSP; Benin
lines along the National Highway (RNIE 1)
Telecom SA
can be increased.
No piped drinking water is available along Given that existing supply
the RDP. Service water (brackish) is networks are highly
Water drawn from the 2 meter deep lagoon. The stressed and MERPMEDER,
Supply closest piped water supply is at the overstretched, and the SBEE, SONEB
Cotonou Airport, which could be vast distance to be
extended. A network also tracks the covered by pipelines, it is

44
 National Highway (RNIE 1). At Ouidah, impossible to extend the
five boreholes supply a municipal water feeds at Ouidah and
tower extending until the Regional Cotonou to supply the
Institute of Health, on the way to the entire RDP; alternative
coast. Water supply is limited. The RDP sources will need to be
has a shallow water table (3-4m deep) investigated.
with enough water to supply non-potable
needs.
No piped sewage collection exists along Physicochemical processes
the RDP. Partial recoveries are currently require significant
made from septic tanks of a few villas and technical monitoring and
hotels. Neighboring cities lack a system of are ill-suited to deal with
collective sanitation. Waste is usually projected RDP
released directly into the water table. A wastewater. A biological
recent processing system remains solution may be
Sewerage N/A
ineffective due to its low capacity; its appropriate. The Ministry
planned extension will not meet real of Energy, Water and
needs for future development. Power has indicated that
effluent disposal will have
to be undertaken through
privately constructed
facilities.

Strategic Considerations:
Anchor projects can be catalytic to tourism development when there is a shortage of: i) international
quality lodging and service standards, ii) volume of rooms to accommodate groups, iii) marketing and
promotion of the destination, and iv) unique natural and cultural assets with which to attract niche
markets. Such developments can be used to address the above bottlenecks to greater sector growth, as
well as serve as important transfer mechanisms of knowledge and technical expertise.
However, larges-scale integrated developments such as the RDP may cause a plethora of negative impacts
and unintended consequences, including: i) Environmental degradation, ii) socio-cultural disruption, iii)
promoting prostitution & child sex trafficking, iv) spreading of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, v) decreased
economic linkages, vi) leakages of economic revenues, and vii) detracting investment & decreasing product
diversification from a destination’s cultural and natural heritage base.
It is not clear if the RDP Project has thoroughly weighed the benefits and potential issues or has the
funding, capacity, regulatory frameworks and institutional mechanisms to maximize the possible benefits
of such projects while preventing and mitigating its negative impacts and unintended consequences. There
remain a number of key strategic considerations and concerns. For investors, the three main barriers to
investment in the project are i) Lack of supporting infrastructure and utilities for the development sites
themselves, ii) the capacity of government to facilitate and implement the project, and iii) Benin’s general
tourism sector development & readiness, discussed in further detail below.

45
Figure 31: Case Study: Coastal Tourism Development in Costa Rica54

Governments need to weigh the full economic, social and environmental impacts to ensure that strategies
and approaches best meet their development objective. Starting in the 1960s, the Government of Costa
Rica created the Gulf of Papagayo Tourism Pole and its new adjacent international airport in coastal Liberia,
in a bid to attract private investment for European-style resort developments of a large-scale mass market
orientation. These ambitious projects languished for decades due to regional political instabilities, a lack
of government expertise & resources, and a failure to attract foreign investment.
In the late 1990s coastal tourism began its revival, mainly due to the start of direct flights from the US to
Liberia and the bundling of resort developments with residential real estate. The Government bought the
land, provided infrastructure and development terms and had a master developer lease concession blocks
to private developers.
A subsequent boom in resort and specifically real estate developments has put unanticipated pressures on
government services and resources without clear long-term benefits in terms of employment, taxes, or
sales of goods and services. Jobs were created in construction and operations (1,400 as of 2008 compared
to design projections of over 20,000) as well as the informal sector, but long-term impacts on poverty
alleviation remained less clear. Poorly planned and enforced coastal development has taken place at the
expense of sustainable use of natural resources- causing shortages of fresh water, polluting oceans and
beaches, illegal destruction of forests and mangroves and cases of prohibiting public beach access.
Benin must carefully consider the fit of its development approach with its goals, resources and institutional
arrangements, meticulously plan and rigorously implement and evaluate actions.

Market assessment: a key requirement for successful integrated resort development is the proximity
to catchment populations, most importantly the convenience of driving/flying/ferry time from these
principle markets. Benin’s domestic catchment population remains small, with limited purchasing power.
The RDP’s closes potential source market is Nigeria, a country of 170 million, with Lagos, a city of over
15 million inhabitants being located 120km or 4-6 hours’ drive away from the RDP. However, certain
bottlenecks remain to tap this market, most notably- irregular
and expensive air access, time consuming and inhibitive road
“Sun and sand is a commodity, traded
access & border procedures, exchange rates and language.
irrespective of location, often at rock
The RDP faces competition from cheaper, more established
bottom prices”- Case Study of the
resort destinations from regional developments (The Gambia,
Puerto Plata Tourism Project, World
Senegal, Ghana), continental destinations (Egypt, Tunisia,
Bank, 2011
Morocco, South Africa) and internationally.
The types of products, hotels and activities delineated in the project are extremely ambitious and lack
targeted focus. Proposals of constructing casinos, sports stadiums, a wildlife park, a cruise terminal, a
ranch hotel, a Chinese cultural village and Chinese themed canal hotel are especially questionable in terms
of product match, demand, feasibility and benefit to Benin’s citizens. The scope and scale of the project
does not seem to match Benin’s comparative advantage, capacity and funding situation.
An in-depth market assessment is required to evaluate the volume potential and calibrate the product
alignment.

54
Honey, M; Vargas, E; Durham, W. Impact of Tourism Related Development on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Center
for Responsible Travel. 2010

46
Site Selection: The Center for Responsible Travel lists six key factors to consider when developing
coastal tourism sites: 1) Commercial suitability of the site, 2) legal compliance, 3) appropriate scale of
proposed development, 4) natural heritage and environmental value of land, 5) social context and cultural
heritage of the proposed site, and 6) unintended consequences of land use change55. The approach,
structure and frameworks within which developments are carried out have a greater economic, social and
environmental impact than the type of projects and markets targeted. As such, the RDP requires an in-
depth evaluation of site selection factors as well as more robust structures and frameworks within which
site selection and development are to be carried out. The recent scaled-up requalification of projected
developments would require new studies on site planning and related impacts. Support services, such as
service towns and employee accommodation should be considered when selecting sites.
Figure 32: Sustainable Design Modeling for Coastal Zones

Source: Bma, A, Sustainable Beach Resort Development: Sustainable Design modeling, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
2001

Supporting infrastructure and basic services: The GoB has not formalized any plans for the
provision of infrastructure and services within the RDP development sites, other than paving the coastal
road. The Ministry of Water and Power has already indicated that that effluent disposal will have to be
undertaken through privately constructed facilities. The overstretched current water supply system, and
the lack of potable water supplies along the RDP is a large bottleneck. The funding required for the
extension of the electricity grid and ICT utilities is not available. A detailed study on the costing and
provision of utilities per site has not been carried out. The Cotonou Airport capacity and lack of
international connections remains a bottleneck at projected volumes.

55
Alternative Development Models and Good Practices for Sustainable Coastal Tourism: A Framework for Decision Makers
in Mexico. Center for Responsible Travel, 2012

47
Resettlement: Recent national experience suggests that land acquisition and resettlement are likely to
be time consuming and litigious, most likely leading to project implementation delays. Resettlement would
likely lead to a loss of livelihoods for the project affected persons, who are currently residing based on
their traditional fishing zones. International experience shows that it is unlikely that they can be effectively
retrained to take part in the formal tourism economy due to large skills and education gaps.
Environmental considerations: the beach area and nearby lagoon are fragile environments for both
flora and fauna, specifically mangroves and birds, with a number of community conservation areas found
along the corridor. The project plans to create a number of non-developable protection zones, however
experience suggests there will be difficulties in their enforcement. The coast is also currently facing erosion
problems due to strong rip-tides which make it dangerous for swimming. Coastal engineering projects are
likely to be costly and have limited long term impact on erosion and swimming conditions.
Figure 33: Case Study: Environmental Impacts: Lessons learnt from international integrated resort developments

Benin’s tourism sector has the advantage of being able to learn from similar international
projects in its development. It is especially important to have adequate environmental safeguards and
infrastructure in place to mitigate possible negative impacts of resort projects, which are often located in
fragile ecosystems.
Cancun, Mexico: Developed in the 1960s, Cancun was intended to be a model for planned, sustainable
resort development. In the early 1970s problems began to emerge- sewage effluent caused the bordering
lagoon to bloom with unsightly and pungent algae. This resulted in conservation and environmental
controls designating 53% of the site and a majority of the lagoon as a conservation area, creating greenbelts
around the development site and protecting underground water systems from pollutants.
Maldives: Upscale resort development has flourished in the Maldives as the country has capitalized on its
natural assets. In order to not negatively affect such assets, the Maldivian government has instituted a
number of regulations for developers to follow, including: mandatory Environmental Impact Assessments,
legislation limits such as percentage of built up area limits to 20% of total land area, maximum building
height of two stories in order to keep buildings below the tree line, and the required installation of on-
site plastic compressors and waste incinerators.
Source: Markandya, A; Taylor, T; Pedroso, S. Tourism and Sustainable Development: Lessons from Recent World Bank Experience. The
World Bank. 2003

Local Economic Development: Studies show that the principal beneficiaries of integrated resort
development projects tend to be private owners and investors, which realize large capital gains56. There
is often little transfer of benefits to local communities and the poor. The greatest gains are derived from
additional direct expenditures of visitors outside hotel complexes, where the more enclave the resorts
are, the less that this expenditure occurs57. Job creation by integrated resorts tends to be over-estimated
by at least half58 and, if large local skills gaps exist, as is the case for Benin, external labor is often utilized
(formally and informally). The extension and upgrading of infrastructure and utilities to local communities

56 South Antalya Tourism Infrastructure Project Completion Report. The World Bank. 1986.
57
Markandya, A; Taylor, T; Pedroso, S. Tourism and Sustainable Development: Lessons from Recent World Bank
Experience. The World Bank. 2003
58Ibid; Honey, M; Vargas, E; Durham, W. Impact of Tourism Related Development on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Center for
Responsible Travel. 2010; Frauenrath, M. Inclusive Tourism: Promoting Backward Linkages. UNCTAD. 2013

48
should be integrated into the initial project in order to improve local development and integrated
neighboring populations. Smaller scale, locally appropriate developments can help increase linkages.
Figure 34: Case Study: Decentralized Resort Development in Turkey

Having learnt lessons from its previous large-scale resort

developments of the early 1980s, Turkey developed Cirali
in the 1990s, a decentralized model for conservation and
sustainable tourism development. Today, Cirali has over
80 small-scale hotels and resorts, with more than 1,500
beds. A participatory land use plan was developed with the
tenets of conservation and ecotourism. Infrastructure and
basic services used to service hotels have also been extended to the area’s
communities, thus improving standards of living. Financing costs for
infrastructure and investments in hotels was reduced and local populations
benefitted from increased inclusion in the tourism value chain and ability to
invest in the development of small resorts. It is now a model for resort
development in the Mediterranean.
Source: Making Tourism More Sustainable: Processes and Tools. Workshop on Sustainable Tourism, Al Bayda, Lybia, 2006

Capacity of government to facilitate and implement RDP: Investors are concerned that Benin’s
tourism administrative, legislative, regulatory and institutional frameworks are not sufficiently developed
in order to effectively facilitate and implement the project. This has been manifested in the excessive time
required to obtain decisions, time delay between submitting regulations, decrees and plans and their
approval and subsequent implementation. The ability of governments to create and enforce tourism land
use and development policies is often undermined by weak municipal or national governments, a
patchwork of agencies involved in large-scale integrated tourism projects and illegal business practices59.
Investment Incentives: The GoB is currently drafting incentives for investors and developers of the
RDP, which are expected to be generally attractive for international investors. It is important to find a
balance between requirements to attract investment, and the need for the country to reap fiscal revenues,
maximize local economic linkages, direct community benefits and minimize leakages of benefits. A pioneer
investor is critical for the initial development stages and is often provided generous conditions.
Tourism Sector Development & Readiness: The successful development of integrated resorts
depend heavily on a functional tourism sector, specifically i) access, ii) attractions, iii) infrastructure, iv)
skills bases and v) destination image. As discussed in Section 3, Benin’s tourism sector is facing a number
of structural bottlenecks which is reducing the attractiveness and confidence for investment in the RDP.
Recommendations
The RDP project requires thorough market and feasibility analyses, phasing, careful calibration in relation
to resources, capacities and assets, as well as an evaluation of potential benefits in relation to unintended
negative impacts. The RDP requires a revision to its scope and scale, and laying strong planning,
regulatory and institutional foundations for its development. Recommendations for immediate next
steps are outlined below.

59
CSED: Global Trends in Coastal Tourism, CREST, 2007

49
a) Revise the proposed scope and scale of the products to be developed along the RDP in
order to better leverage Benin’s endogenous cultural and natural resources. For example, focus
on natural market segments of i) International adventure/eco-tourists, ii) Cultural Diaspora
tourists, and iii) Regional leisure tourists; and Benin’s unique assets
b) Scale down and phase the initial development to a demonstration project of 300-600
rooms in one zone, ideally utilizing a decentralized resort development strategy, prioritizing
numerous small, low-impact resort developments (see Figure 34), while beginning with the
upgrading of the Fidjrosse beachfront promenade area
c) Carry out a number of preparatory studies for the first phase of development, including:
i) Detailed market and feasibility study
ii) Costing for zone infrastructure needs (Electricity, ICT, water supply, sewerage, solid waste
management)
iii) Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plans, including legislation to protect non-developed
coastal areas
iv) Detailed Land Use Plans
v) Study on guidelines for sustainable integrated resort development
vi) Study on opportunities and bottlenecks for involving local communities and entrepreneurs in
the RDP and tourism sector (exploring joint ventures, land for equity exchanges, employment
linkages, training schemes, supply chain development and linkages)
d) Research and draft regulations
i) Siting of buildings (public beach access, spacing, clusters, ribbons, isolation, relationship to
landscape features, density, site coverage)
ii) Building construction (materials, design and height restriction, environmentally sustainable
building code)
iii) Access (gateways, internal circulation system, links between facilities)
iv) Landscaping (indigenous species, planting patterns, retention of original landscaping,
environment planning, natural corridors, open and closed spaces)

50
Annex

List of Stakeholders and Experts Consulted

Benin, January 28-February 14, 2014

Name Position

El-kir Moudachirou Babio Director, Direction du Developpement et de la Promotion

Touristiques, MCAAT

A. Guy Johnson Director General, Agence de Developpement et de la Promotion

Touristiques, MCAAT

Jules Victorien Kougblenou General Director, Route des Peches Tourist Development Agency,
MCAAT

Georges M. Legba Director, Direction des Professions et des Etablissements

Touristiques, MCAAT

Gisele Dossou-Yovo Allide Coordinator of Projects, Direction du Developpement et de la

Promotion Touristiques, MCAAT

Richard Sogan Director du patrimoine culturel, MCAAT

Placide Azande Prefet des Departements de l’Atlantique et du Littoral

Directeur de Developpement, Prefecture des Departements de

l’Atlantique et du Littoral

Eddey Yaovi Victorin Directeur de l’Assistance et du Suivi, Centre de Promotion des

Investissements, Ministre du Developpement de l’Analyse Economique
et de la Prospective

Kocou Teblekou Directeur General, Centre National de Gestion des Reserves de

Faune, Ministere de l’Environnement, de l’Habitat et de l’Urbanisme

Dr. Ferdinand Claude Kidjo Responsible Technique, Centre National de Gestion des Reerves de
Faune, Ministere de l’Environnement, de l’Habitat et de l’Urbanisme

Agossa Honri SG, Mairie de Ouidah

Angelo Kpanos Chef du Service Technique, Mairie de Kpomasse

Franck Meko Charge des affaires juridiques et de la gestion du plan foncier rural,
Mairie de Kpomasse

Bertrand Adjovi Directeur, Office du Tourisme, Ouidah

51
Rizwan Haider Directeur General, Orabank, Cotonou

Richard Robaix Directeur General, Novotel & Ibis Cotonou

Babatunde R. Ollofindji President Director General, Tunde S.A.

Amina Baba Ibrahim Specialiste en Promotion des Investissements et Developpemnt

Economique, Groupe Tunde

Gauthier Amoussou Coordinator, ECO-BENIN, Cotonou

M. Bertrand Program Coordinator, ECO-BENIN, Cotonou

Mme. Victorien Program Coordinator, Federation Beninoise des Organisations du

Tourisme Responsible et Solidaire

Rock Magnonfinin Chef Personnel et member Association des Professionnels de

l’Industrie Hoteliere (APIHB), Cotonou

Frère Godfrey Nzamjor Director, Centre Songhaï

Gregory Ibe Board Member, Centre Songhaï and Chancellor/Proprietor of

Gregory University, Uturu, Nigeria

Pascale Pinat Proprietaire, Auberge du Jardin Secret, Ouidah

M. Igor Auberge du Jardin Secret, Ouidah

M. Modeste Office du Tourisme de Ouidah

Jules Azagoun Responsible, Museum de Ouidah

Henry Hounton Director & Proprietaire, Auberge du Diaspora (Jardin Bresilienne)

Moronike Akobi Schmitt Director, Au Jardin Helvetia (Auberge & Restaurant)

Johnson Robert Operations, Au Jardin Helvetia

Houessou Ignace Developer and Owner, hotel under construction on the coast

Sebastien Essou President of the Federation Beninoise des Organisations du Tourisme

Responsible et Solidaire and Coordinator of Sandotour, Tour
Operator

Dieu-Donne Konnon Coordinator, Centre d’Intervention pour le Developpement &

Member of the Federation Beninoise des Organisations du Tourisme
Responsible et Solidaire

M. Kpasse Treasurer of the Federation Beninoise des Organisations du Tourisme

Responsible et Solidaire

52
 Francine Aissi Houangni President, Commission Tourisme et Hotellerie au Conseil du Patronat
du Benin and Director, Afrique Destionation Tour Operator

Jean-Maria John-Ahyee President ATOV (Association des Tour Operateurs et Agences de

Voyage) Benin; President Directeur General de Groupe SEPEC; Vice
President Exeltour

Oumar Sall Directeur, Azalai Hotel de la Plage, Cotonou

Sabine Mengueley HITT Trainer, SNV

M. Foussard Directeur General, Hotel Maison Rouge, Cotonou

Julien Werle President, Benin Air Carriers Association

Hasa Biga Resident Representative, BOAD Benin

Nigeria, February 3-5, 2014

Name Position

Mark Loxley General Manager, Southern Sun Ikoyi Hotel, Lagos

Simeon Odegor Sales and Marketing Manager, Southern Sun Ikoyi Hotel, Lagos

Victor C. Enwezor Director, Leisure Afrique, Tour Operator, Lagos

Hassan A. Zakari President, National Association of Tour Operators (NATOP), Lagos

Vineet Kumar Rai WACOT

Dr. Sola M. Afolabi Business Environment Advisor, Borderless Alliance

Vincent Nwani Director, Research & Advocacy, Lagos Chamber of Commerce &
Industry

Trevor Ward Managing Director, W Hospitality Group

Tinuke Nwakohu Managing Director, Aviator Travel & Tours Ltd

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Travel & Tourism Indicator Benchmarking

Average Overall T&T competitiveness T&T T&T

T&T
Annual T&T (Rank out of 140) total total
total T&T
Growth competit T&T Business T&T GDP Employ Investment
Annual GDP total
Country in iveness Regulat environme human, Contribu ment (% of total
Arrivals Contri employm
Arrivals (Rank ory nt and cultural and tion Contri investment)
bution ent
(2000- out of Frame infrastruct natural (US$ bution
(%)
2010) 140) work ure resources billion) (%)
Benin 209,000** 2% 130 127 130 126 6.5% $0.498 5.6% 112,000 3.4%
Regional Competitive Set
Competitive
Set 704,000 15% 122 123 119 115 8% $1.04 7% 237,417 4%
Averages
Togo 300,000** 17% n/a n/a n/a n/a 6.7% $0.249 5.8% 53,500 2%
Senegal 1,001,00** 10% 107 111 113 88 11% $1.64 9.6% 283,000 3.1%
Ivory Coast 270,000** 13% 126 133 118 114 4.8% $1.18 4.2% 208,500 3%
Ghana 931,000* 10% 117 113 108 117 5.9% $1.28 5.1% 269,000 3.6%
International Comparators
Worldwide
n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 9.3% n/a 8.7% n/a 4.7%
Average
Laos 1,670,000* 25% n/a n/a n/a n/a 16.7% $ 1.4 14.6% 433,500 8.9%
Haiti 349,000** n/a 140 138 136 140 5.7% $0.468 4.9% 177,000 4%
Source: World Economic Forum T&T Competitiveness Index, 2013; WTTC, 2013; World Bank, 2013; All data from 2012 unless otherwise stated. *2010;
**2011

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Regional Share of Africa’s Tourism Receipts (2008)
West Africa Central Africa
2% 2%
East Africa
17%

North Africa Southern Africa

56% 23%

Source: Route des Peches: An Integrated Coastal Development Project- Draft Conceptual Master Layout Plan Legend Development 2012

Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2013: Sub-Saharan Africa

Source: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013: World Economic Forum. 2013

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Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2013: Benin Country Profile

Source: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013: World Economic Forum. 2013

Lodging Establishment Distribution by State (2012)

Number of Capacity
Department Lodging
Establishments Rooms Beds

Atlantique –
510 3 442 6 884
Littoral
Borgou –
127 625 1 230
Alibori
Atacora –
105 639 1 278
Donga
Mono –
78 788 1 576
Couffo
Ouémé –
146 1 058 2 116
Plateau
Zou –
142 810 1 620
Collines
TOTAL 1037 7 362 14 704
Source: MCAAT, 2012

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Benin’s Tourism Competitive Set Doing Business Rankings Benchmarking (2014)

Over Deal
all ing Trad
Doin Starti with Gettin Registe Gett Protec Payi ing Enforc Resolvi
Count g ng a Cons g ring ing ting ng Acro ing ng
ry Busin Busin truct Electri Proper Cred Investo Tax ss Contr Insolve
ess ess ion city ty it rs es Bord acts ncy
Ranki Per ers
ng mits
Beni
174 139 95 160 137 130 157 179 119 181 140
n
Togo 157 168 114 96 159 130 147 172 110 153 111
Sene
178 110 165 182 174 130 170 182 80 167 122
gal
Ivory
Coas 167 115 162 153 127 130 157 173 165 88 95
t
Ghan
67 128 159 85 49 28 34 68 109 43 116
a
Source: Doing Business 2014: Benin Economy Profile. World Bank//IFC, 2014

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