Travel And Tourism in Benin

Euromonitor International's Travel And Tourism in Benin report offers a comprehensive guide to the market at a national level. It looks at travel accommodation, transportation, car rental, tourist attractions and retail travel. It identifies the leading companies and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market, including background information on disposable income, annual leave and holiday taking habits.

Buy online to access strategic market analysis and an interactive statistical database of market size data for travel accommodation, transportation, car rental, travel retail, tourism attractions and health and wellness tourism, tourism inflows and outflows, tourism spending and company and brand shares.

Why buy this report

• Get insight into trends in market performance
• Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change
• Identify market and brand leaders and understand the competitive environment

Product coverage

Car rental; Demand factors; Health & wellness tourism; Tourism flows domestic; Tourism flows inbound; Tourism flows outbound; Tourism receipts and expenditure; Tourist attractions; Transportation; Travel accommodation; Travel retail

Executive summary

Tourism as an engine for the diversification of the economy

Benin is a country that is dependent on agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Over the review period, growth in real GDP has averaged around 5%, but rapid population growth has offset much of this increase. In addition, inflation has also subsided over the latter years of the review period. The country has great potential for tourism. In order to sustain growth and to reduce its reliance on agricultural and cotton exports, the government of Benin (GOB) has been striving to give a face-lift to the tourism industry as a way of diversifying the economy. This means working to strengthen the capacity to attract visitors, improving transport links and training people in the tourism industry. The creation of new tourism and leisure facilities will be of great help to the country.

The tourism industry and the economy

Although tourism is still a fledgling economic sector for Benin, it is the sector with the second highest number of businesses, the third highest provider of jobs, and brings in around CFAF20.2 billion in revenues each year. As a tourism destination, Benin is ranked fifth out of the thirteen countries of Western Africa. Yet, despite these figures, tourism only contributes around 2% to the country’s GDP. Because of this, the government has given priority to the development of the tourism industry on both domestic and international fronts, so that the country can win its fair share of the millions of visitors each year from around the world, who want to experience first hand some of the very special places that abound on the African continent.

Investment climate

Tourism investment has considerable potential in Benin due to the country’s prudent fiscal policy and positive economic growth. The government of Benin (GOB) is committed to creating a positive enabling environment for investors and its efforts have been successful. The country has a naturally beautiful coastline, National Parks with rich animal life in the north, and also towns rich in history, including Ouidah, Abomey, Porto Novo and Ganvie – a unique fishing village on stilts in the middle of Lake Nokoue. The GOB recently extended the tender period for a feasibility study for a tourism investment zone between the coastal cities of Cotonou and Ouidah, the latter a UNESCO World Heritage site that was an important departure point for the slave trade with the Americas.

Beach tourism prospects

Beach tourism is a sector with strong growth potential in Benin. Its long coastline with beaches, lakes, thermal springs and fishing villages has the potential to attract beach tourists. Grand-Popo, which is located in Mono and a two-hour drive from Cotonou, is one of the most popular beaches in Benin. It is located near the border with Togo and as of 2007, there were three small hotels in the area and a total of 44 rooms. Since there are few high-quality beach resorts, there are many opportunities for the development of this area.

The GOB decided in its Action Plan for 2001-2006 to make promotion of the tourism industry a top priority because of its potential to spur sustainable economic growth and social development. One initiative in this effort is the development of the “Fishing Road” (Route des Pêches), a stretch of about 32km in length along the coastal road between the historical city of Ouidah and Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin. The project to create a tourism development zone along the coastal areas is aimed at promoting the attractions of this part of the coastline. The cost of this project was budgeted for in the 2005 Finance bill.

The project will consist of the development of a tourist zone and will be controlled by the government, which is expected to service the land and provide a basic infrastructure. The private sector is expected to invest in the project through the development of tourism infrastructures such as hotels and nautical bases, with the aim to reach about 2,000 hotel rooms by the year 2018. The project’s feasibility study’s results show that four tourism development centres have been identified at the beaches of Fidjrossè, Togbin-Adounko, Avlékété and Djègbadji.

Table of contents

TRAVEL AND TOURISM IN BENIN : MARKET INSIGHT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Tourism as an engine for the diversification of the economy

The tourism industry and the economy

Investment climate

Beach tourism prospects

KEY TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS

National tourism policy

Cultural tourism

Ecotourism potential

Tourism constraints

MARKET INDICATORS

Table 1 Length of Domestic Trip: 2002-2007

Table 2 Length of Outbound Departure: 2002-2007

MARKET DATA

Table 3 Balance of Tourism Payments: Value 2002-2007

DEFINITIONS

Tourism Parameters

Travel accommodation

Transportation

Car rental

Travel retail

Internet sales

Summary 1 Research Sources

TRAVEL ACCOMMODATION

Headlines

Trends

Prospects

Sector Data

Table 4 Travel Accommodation Sales by Sector: Value 2002-2007

Table 5 Travel Accommodation Outlets by Sector: Units 2002-2007

Table 6 Regional Hotel Parameters 2007

Table 7 Travel Accommodation by Sector: Number of Rooms 2005-2007

Table 8 Travel Accommodation by Sector: Number of Beds 2005-2007

Table 9 Travel Accommodation Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2002-2007

Table 10 Hotel Company Rankings 2005-2007

Table 11 Forecast Travel Accommodation Sales by Sector: Value 2007-2012

Table 12 Forecast Travel Accommodation Outlets by Sector: Units 2007-2012

Table 13 Forecast Travel Accommodation Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2007-2012

TRANSPORTATION

Headlines

Trends

Prospects

Sector Data

Table 14 Transportation Sales by Sector: Value 2002-2007

Table 15 Transportation Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2002-2007

Table 16 Airline Company Rankings 2005-2007

Table 17 Forecast Transportation Sales by Sector: Value 2007-2012

Table 18 Forecast Transportation Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2007-2012

CAR RENTAL

Headlines

Trends

Prospects

Sector Data

Table 19 Car Rental Sales: Value 2002-2007

Table 20 Car Rental Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2002-2007

Table 21 Car Rental Company Rankings 2005-2007

Table 22 Forecast Car Rental Sales: Value 2007-2012

Table 23 Forecast Car Rental Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2007-2012

TRAVEL RETAIL

Headlines

Trends

Prospects

Sector Data

Table 24 Travel Retail Outlets: Units 2002-2007

Table 25 Travel Retail Products Sales: Value 2002-2007

Table 26 Travel Retail Products Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2002-2007

Table 27 Travel Retail Products Company Rankings 2005-2007

Table 28 Forecast Travel Retail Outlets: Units 2007-2012

Table 29 Forecast Travel Retail Products Sales: Value 2007-2012

Table 30 Forecast Travel Retail Products Internet Sales: Internet Transaction Value 2007-2012