Angelot Djissode, Director of Tourism Promotion talks about the challenges and contribution of tourism to the national economy

Tourism is a sector which, in hibernation in recent years, is experiencing a revival thanks to the Plan of Development and Tourist Development (PDDAT) set up by the Togolese authorities. Approached by our Editor, the Director of Tourism Promotion of the Ministry of Tourism gives us here the contribution of this sector to the national economy and the many challenges that the government must face so that Togolese tourism can reconnect with its glory of yesteryear . Reading !



How is the tourism sector in Togo?

Tourism is a growing business in the world. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), it is the third largest economic sector behind the automotive and petrochemical industries. All the countries that want to be a tourist destination are working for its development and promotion. Given this reality, the Togolese government attaches great importance to this sector.

Thanks to the strategies to promote the destination Togo through mainly participation in tourism fairs and fairs, activities have started a sustained growth. In addition to tourist arrivals by air and land, our capital welcomes several cruise ships each year with visitors from several nationalities (English, American, Spanish, French, etc.).

The country has also returned to the organization of major events that are part of the development and promotion of congress and business tourism.

In 2015, Togo welcomed 303,000 tourists who generated 26 billion CFA francs in hotel revenues. The sector also provided 4346 direct jobs in the hotel, restaurant and travel agency sub-sectors. The first estimates of the figures for 2016 confirm this upward trend, ie around 350,000 tourists and just over 30 billion CFA francs in hotel receipts (figures to be confirmed after full consolidation of the statistics).

We are confident that with the atmosphere of peace and security in our country and the active diplomacy of the Head of State and his government, tourism will again play its role as a sector of economic activities contributing significantly Development of the country.

How does the government get involved in this area?

The government is firmly committed to the development and promotion of Togolese tourism. Several actions are undertaken to accompany and boost this sector.

In order to give a new impetus to the activities, a national tourism policy document was adopted by the government on January 5, 2011. The vision of this policy is "the development and promotion of a diversified, environmentally friendly tourism And the quality of life, the guarantor of economic growth ". In 2014, it was developed with the technical assistance of the World Tourism Organization and the technical and financial support of the UNDP, a Master Plan for Development and Tourist Development (PDDAT). These two documents constitute guidance documents for the development and promotion of tourism in Togo.

Concrete actions include encouraging companies in the hotel business to upgrade their facilities to stay up-to-date and to engage in a continuous improvement of the overall quality of services. It is in this perspective that we can place the renovation of Hotel 2 February under the Radisson Blu label and the holding in Lomé in June 2016 of the international forum for hotel investment in order to increase the capacity of reception and Accommodation.

In the process of improving the quality of the accommodation establishments, the classification work of the hotels will continue and will ultimately divide these hotels into categories one to five stars.

Site development is also at the heart of our concerns. These developments concern the access roads and the reception and leisure facilities on these sites. Many feasibility studies have been carried out and the implementation of these projects will be carried out in conjunction with the relevant ministerial departments. These developments will allow the development and promotion of various types of tourism, including cultural tourism, ecotourism and seaside tourism.


What is the position of Togolese tourism on the West African market?

In the 1980s, Togo was a privileged tourist destination in West Africa. Foreign tourists, including European tourists (French, German, Swiss, Italian ...) came to spend their holidays and to discover the tourist attractions and cultural attractions of the population throughout the country. Lome the capital was the crossroads of major international conferences and an important business hub for nationals of West and Central Africa; The autonomous port and the large market of Lomé, stronghold of the Nana Benz, attracted them in particular.

After the difficult times of the 1990s, efforts were made by the authorities to restore peace, social cohesion and security. Major infrastructure works were carried out, in particular the reinforcement of the road network, the new terminal building and the modernization of the facilities in the autonomous port of Lomé. These achievements have enabled Togo to gradually regain its position as a hub of the subregion. This is reflected in the resumption of the organization of major conferences, including the African Summit on Maritime Safety and the meeting of the AU Specialized Technical Committee (CTS) on transport, transcontinental and interregional infrastructure, energy and tourism. Other major meetings are expected in our capital, namely, the AGOA conference and the Israel-Africa summit.

Participation in regional tourism fairs, in particular the International Salon of Tourism and Hotels of Ouaga (SITHO) every year since 2010 and the programming of participation in the next edition of the International Tourism Fair of Abidjan ( SITA) aim to make the tourism potential of Togo more widely known to nationals of the UEMOA and ECOWAS area and thus boost their stay in our country. In this sense, Togo often hosts holiday camps organized by sub-regional organizations for young people from both areas for cultural exchanges of mutual interest.

Tell us about the air transport situation, in particular in terms of opening up and facilitating domestic tourism

Togo has two world-class international airports, namely Lomé and Niamtougou in the north of the country.


International airlines such as Air France, Brussels Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines and Royal Air Maroc serve Togo from major cities in the world (cities in Europe, America and Asia). Other international companies are announced on the Lomé platform. These include TAP, Egypt Air, Emirates, Turkish Airlines, etc.

Lomé is the hub of the pan-African company Asky Airlines serving the countries of West and Central Africa. Other airlines also serve Lomé airport namely Air Burkina, Air Côte d'Ivoire, Ceiba International.

We hope that many other companies will serve our capital for the development of business and tourism air transport.

The Niamtougou International Airport, which is undergoing renovations, has always welcomed aircraft from official delegations visiting the northern part of the country and charter flights.

Many projects to serve this airport by domestic flights are being studied as well as a possible creation of a national company.

The airport at the end of the works will again be able to accommodate large aircraft under optimum conditions of safety and aviation security in order to further increase the tourism economy in the northern part of Togo.


What are the major challenges and current priorities of the Ministry of Tourism?

Togolese tourism is taking more and more a step in the economic development of the country. The idea that has always animated the government is to give more visibility to this sector. Despite efforts, challenges remain. It is in this sense that the Master Plan for Development and Tourist Development has been developed.

This plan responds to these challenges, first of all in terms of institutional capacity building. As such, the recent reshuffle that creates a department devoted solely to industry and tourism is a solution approach.

The restructuring of the department with regard to the organization of the firm, the central departments, the related bodies and the establishment of the regional directorates will help to meet the institutional challenge by strengthening technical capacities and bringing the national administration closer together Tourism of private professionals and the population throughout the national territory.

Secondly, as regards the development of tourist sites, the planning studies referred to above place a major emphasis on feeder roads and the establishment of reception and management infrastructures for these sites.

We hope to have rapid material and financial resources for the realization of these projects.

As for accommodation establishments, the continuous search for the quality of services must be the watchword of the operators of the sector through the reinforcement of the professional capacities of the staff of the various bodies of the hotel business.


Lastly, with regard to promotion, the actions will aim at reaffirming the visibility of the destination of Togo at national and international level. In addition to the traditional methods of marketing and promotion (production of written, visual and audiovisual documents), the intensification of participation in tourism fairs in our traditional markets (France, Germany, Switzerland, Benelux, North America ...) and Emerging markets (China, Russia, Brazil, India, South Africa), special emphasis will be placed on e-marketing at both the administrative and professional level through the optimal use of the Internet and Social networks for marketing and marketing purposes.


What is the contribution of the tourism sector to the national economy?

Tourism is a cross-cutting sector. Its practice and exploitation has significant effects on other sectors, mainly the environment, culture, agri-food, transport, crafts and leisure.

Referring to the national estimates, in 2016, the sector would have registered 350,000 tourists for just over 30 billion FCFA of hotel receipts.

According to the World Council of Travel and Tourism (CMVT), the organization that conducts studies on the performance of tourism at the global level in 2015, Togolese tourism has contributed to the national economy for about 150 million euros 100 billion CFA francs. In this contribution, the consumption of the transport sectors (air tickets, excursions), hotels, handicrafts, catering, ICT, in all related sectors Tourism. This represents 4.1% of GDP.


In addition, tourism is practiced both in the city and in the countryside, where many tourist sites are located. The development of sustainable tourism at these sites is an effective tool for poverty reduction, as it contributes to land-use planning and the creation of direct and indirect jobs in the accommodation, restaurant and guiding sectors Of the cultural animation thus of the incomes for the host populations.


Short-term and long-term prospects

This is a matter for the government to significantly improve the performance of the tourism sector. The immediate objective is to surpass the 500 000 tourists for arrivals with revenues corresponding to this increase in order to reach 2020 towards the quantitative objectives of the implementation of the common tourism policy within Of the UEMOA and its action plan, ie 8 million tourists for the space, which amounts to 1 million tourists for each of the 8 member states. Tourism will have to contribute 7% to the GDP of the national economy.

To achieve these objectives, it is imperative to look for ways to implement the PDDAT action plans and projects, namely:
- complete rebuilding of the tourist product through the development of the sites and the improvement of the quality of the accommodation establishments throughout the territory;
- enhancing the professionalism of the players in the tourism chain (travel agents, guides, hoteliers, restaurateurs, etc.);
- encouraging the organization of domestic and intra-regional tourism for the consolidation of national unity and sub-regional integration;
- the intensification of the promotion and marketing of Togolese tourism nationally and internationally.