TOURISM IN TOGO

By Bruce Emmanuel

1. INTRODUCTION

Global tourism sustained its growth once again in 2016, with 1.239 billion international arrivals, a 3.9% increase from 2015. According to the UNWTO, global tourist arrivals are anticipated to reach 1.322 billion in 2017, at a 6.7% increase. In 2016, in Africa as a whole, tourist arrivals increased to 62.9 million, up from 62.5 million in 2015 (a 0.64% increase). Tourism in sub-Saharan Africa saw an 8.9% increase in international arrivals. Destinations with the strongest growth in international arrivals compared to 2015 were Sierra Leone (+30,000, a 126% increase), Nigeria (+634,000, a 50.5% increase), Burundi (+56,000, a 42.7% increase), Eritrea (+28,000, a 24.6% increase), Togo (+65,000, a 23.8% increase), and Madagascar (+49,000, a 20% increase). (Africa Tourism Monitor, Vol 1, 2018).

Togo is a country located in West Africa with the capital city called Lomé, boarded by Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Benin. Togo has a total area of 56,785 km2 (21,925 mi2) and was originally a German protectorate named “Togoland”. With a population of about 7.2 million, almost 51 % of the indigenous practice religion, 29 % Christianity, and 20 % Muslim (CIA 2014). French is the official language but local languages, such as Ewe and Mina, Kotokoli, Kabye, and Dagomba, are spoken (Gbedema 2015). The agriculture and services sectors dominate in terms of their contribution to GDP in the country, accounting for 45% and 34% respectively (ADB, 2011). One of the world’s largest industries is tourism and destined to grow as incomes rise.  In the early 1980s, Togo emerged as a small sun, sea, and adventure destination. Tourism is one major and significant contributor to the economy and as a source of foreign exchange. Moreover, tourism provides employment opportunities.

1. TOURISM SECTOR IN TOGO

Many tourism attributes are found in Togo, from sun and beaches to cultural assets. However, the limited infrastructural development hinders the accessibility of these sites and limited their appeal to tourists from all walks of life. Togo recorded a total of 876,000 tourists in 2019, ranking 141st in the world in absolute terms. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Togo. With 0.11 tourists per resident, Togo ranked 149th in the world. In Western Africa, it ranked 3rd.

Source: Gbedema (2015).

Togo generated around 269.00 m US Dollar in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 4.9 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 5 percent of all international tourism receipts in Western Africa (World Data Info, 2020). Togo’s tourism sector cannot be compared to its neighboring countries like Ghana and Benin. The multi-country tourism circuits usually overshadow the tourism sector in Togo. In addition, the beachfront along Lomé’s downtown is specifically under-valued asset. This is due to the poor state with open-air sewage, lack of lighting, facilities, or tourism infrastructure. There are challenges currently faced by the tourism sector in Togo and that includes; the lack of Government prioritization and leadership on tourism; ineffective positioning/marketing; lack of quality tourism attractions; and the lack of a dedicated Conventions Bureau.

Source: https://www.togofirst.com/en/tourism-panorama.

3.0.  TOURISM, ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

From the year 2001-2011, tourism industry in Togo saw massive improvement per its significant contribution to the economy.  According to the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, the number of international tourist arrivals in Togo has steadily increased from a minimum of 57,000 arrivals recorded in 2001 to 300,000 arrivals recorded for 2011. In the same period, tourist receipts have come to represent an increasingly larger share of the country’s export (R. Pelizzo 2015).

Table 1. Number of tourist arrivals

Source: Ministry of Tourism 2012.

3.1. TOURISM AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE GDP

Togolese history, art, culture, tradition, the landscape could attract a large and growing number of tourists. In addition, more than three-quarters of the visitors, tourists, and travelers, who come to Togo, do so for business or business-related purposes (R. Pelizzo 2015).  Moreso, the development of the tourism sector in Togo contributed to the creation of employment opportunities and to the expansion of the labor market. Its contribution to the economy is significantly felt. In 2019, contribution of travel and tourism to GDP (% of GDP) for Togo was 8.4 %. The contribution of travel and tourism to GDP (% of GDP) of Togo increased from 2.1 % in 2000 to 8.4 % in 2019 growing at an average annual rate of 8.14%. The country seeks to raise tourism’s contribution to the GDP to at least 10% by 2022, creating in parallel a minimum of 10,000 decent jobs in the industry by then. Lomé focuses on promoting and developing seaside, cultural, sport tourism and ecotourism, with a particular accent on blue tourism.

Source: https://www.google.com/url.

4.0 GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT IN THE TOURISM SECTOR

The Togolese Government and the Ministry of Tourism seek to develop the sector to attract more investors and tourism to increase its foreign exchange associated with it. The Ministry wants to make Togo a regional hub in this regard and it seems that its efforts in this framework have been paying off. For instance, Togo was ranked second-best (after Egypt) in regards to the increase in international tourist arrivals (+46%) in 2017. This boost the number of arrivals and tourists to 26% compared to 2017, with 712,000 tourists registered. Furthermore, the hospitality sector generated XOF48 billion that year (thus XOF3 billion more than in 2017). Similarly, Togo’s tourism sector has grown considerably, that the number of tourists/visitors, the number of hotels and rooms increased and that the growth of this sector led to a significant increase in the number of firms and tourists operating in this sector. The development of tourism is highly beneficial. It creates wealth, it creates business opportunity, it creates employment –nearly 10 jobs are created for every 1000 additional tourists/visitors coming to Togo - and it makes a significant contribution to reducing the unemployment rate (R. Pelizzo 2015). Togo wants to increase the rate of visitors per 100 locals to 5 by 2022, against 3.2 in 2015. Regarding revenue per visitor, Lomé eyes nearly $700 by 2022, from $520 in 2015 by the government. The government of Togo and the Ministry of Togo wants to better diversify, increase and valorize its hospitality and tourism offers. This should be done through systematic labeling and rating, facilitation of investments, and by consolidating the legal and organizational frameworks of the industry.

Source: https://www.togofirst.com/en/tourism-panorama.

4.1. ECOTOURISM: A KEY GROWTH SECTOR IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM

While there are some deficiencies in terms of the country’s inadequate road infrastructure and the lack of high-quality accommodation, Togo is a treasure trove of ecological diversity and offers huge biodiversity in its protected natural habitats. These natural wonders attract visitors from far and wide and the country’s larger cities represent ideal gateways for those wishing to visit its natural delights. The wildlife, diversity of landscape, stunning beaches and pleasant climate are all favorable for travel and tourism. Large numbers of visitors to Togo now seek to experience the country’s nature first-hand, enjoy extreme sports and seek out new adventures. In addition, the Togo Tourism & Development Foundation helps local communities to develop new strategies to attract more tourists, offering interaction with nature, adventure sports and the chance to explore.

Source: https://www.google.com/url.

Source: https://www.google.com/url.

Some of the sites in this area that attract tourists the most include:

• Château Viale,

• The Kamina station,

• The Agou peak,

• The Waterfalls of Kpimé

• Akrowa

• The Djogbégan Monastery.

• Fosse Aux Lions national park,

• The cave paintings of Namoudjoga,

• Oti’s Alluvial Plains

• The Mandouri Game Reserve.

• Koutammakou Landscape

• The Blast furnaces of Bandjéli; and

• The Natural Reserves of Kéran and Sarakawa.

  
  

  
  

  

  Source: https://www.google.com/url.

  
  

  
  

• 5.0. TOURISM SECTOR IN THE MIDST COVID-19 .

• 5.1. Economic Situation

• During this pandemic period, the economic activities were halted and affect its dynamic economic performance. Tourism is one of the sectors hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the outlook remains highly uncertain. Real GDP, which grew 5% in 2018 and 5.5% in 2019, grew only 0.4% in 2020, because of a decline in foreign direct investments, portfolio investments, and migrant remittances and the slowdown in global trade. Despite a prudent monetary policy, inflation more than doubled, from 0.7% in 2019 to 1.6% in 2020, mainly due to the supply disruptions. The budget deficit grew sharply, from 0.8% of GDP to 4.7% of GDP, as tax revenue fell and health spending increased as the government sought to fight the pandemic. The current deficit grew slightly, from 2.2% of GDP in 2019 to 3.2% in 2020. The current account deficit was kept from rising more because of a slowdown in imports (African Development Bank, 2021).

Source: https://www.google.com/url.

The crisis is already having a significant impact on tourism, threatening direct and indirect employment. IATA estimates the economic contribution of the air transport industry in Africa at USD 55.8 billion, supporting 6.2 million jobs and contributing 2.6% of the continent’s GDP. Restrictions to international travel affect African airlines such as Ethiopian Airlines, EgyptAir, Kenya Airways, and South African Airways, which are large employers and have linkages to other domestic businesses (PROPARCO, 2016). In addition, the pandemic has caused partial unemployment of airline staff. In a moderate COVID-19 impact scenario, the tourism and travel sector in Africa could lose at least USD 50 billion in revenues and 2 million direct and indirect jobs (AUC, 2020). The overall impact of COVID-19 on the economies of top tourist countries will be much higher than that on average African economies. The tourism industry contributed to more than 10% of GDP of the following countries (in descending order of % GDP): Seychelles, Cabo Verde, Mauritius, Gambia, Tunisia, Madagascar, Lesotho, Rwanda, Botswana, Egypt, Tanzania, Namibia, Comoros, and Senegal in 2019. In these countries, economic growth is expected to drop on average to a value of -3.3% in 2020, whereas the impact will be much higher in countries like Seychelles, Cabo Verde, Mauritius, and Gambia, with an expected -7% drop at least in 2020 (AUC, 2020).

The Togolese government implemented measures such as national lockdowns, closing of borders, including the suspension of tourism, quarantine for two weeks as a tourist, social distancing etc. However, at the same time also the trend to take a more differentiated, evidence- and risk-based approach in the implementation of travel restrictions is observed. Meanwhile, such measures Such an approach, based on the increasing understanding of the virus and non-pharmaceutical intervention, testing and contact tracing possibilities46 is observed in a growing number of destinations, where international tourists are requested to present a negative COVID- 19 PCR or antigen test result upon arrival and provide contact details for tracing purposes. The Ministry of Tourism and the Togolese government have invested and plan to use digital solutions and ICTs to promote tourism and boost the sector’s performance (Ayi Renaud Dossavi, 2020).

Key policy priorities during this pandemic for the tourism sector include:

• Restoring traveler confidence

• Supporting tourism businesses to adapt and survive

• Promoting domestic tourism and supporting safe return of international tourism

• Providing clear information to travelers and businesses, and limiting uncertainty (to the extent possible)

• Evolving response measures to maintain capacity in the sector and address gaps in supports

• Strengthening co-operation within and between countries

• Building more resilient, sustainable tourism

Please refer to the Chinese Version published on Huanqiu.com, one of the top three rating news media in China. Huanqiu.com is a national rating on line media platform, approved by the publisher of People's Daily and the Central Internet Information Office of China. This column is to provide a platform for researchers and practitioners on West African issues.

Link：https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/43je6bhSaFY