UNIVERSITE D’ABOMEY-CALAVI

(UAC)

FACULTE DES SCIENCE HUMAINE ET SOCIALE

(FASHS)

CENTRE UNIVERSITAIRE D’ADJARRA

(CUA)

DEPARTEMENT D’ANGLAIS

THEME
MINISTERE DU TOURISME ET
DES LOISIRS DU BENIN
Participants
1. Florida AGBAHOUNGBA

2. Lucienne AGBANGLANON

3. Angélique AGBOHI

4. Rotalique AHOTON

5. Véronique BOTON

6. Pierre GBASSOU

7. Merveille HODONOU

8. Déo- Gracias HOUNKPATIN

9. Sylvain KOGBLE

10. Marthe MOHLADE

11. Martine OMONLEGBE

12. Anne-Marie TCHAKO Sous la

supervision de:
13. Christ- Josias TEDJI Dr (Mc) Corneille TEBA

14. Mathieu VIAKINNOU

15. Amatoullah YESSOUFOU

OUTLINE
I- INTRODUCTION
II- CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION OF TOURISM AND LEISURE
III- MINISTER OF TOURISM AND LEISURE OF BENIN
WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR?
IT’S STRUCTURE
IT’S IMPACT
REALIZATIONS OF THE ORGANIZATION
IV- CONCLUSION
V- REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION
After they were for many years enslaved, after long
relentlessness, cries, after they were given emancipation,
after they’ve been set free from the colonial height, African
countries aimed to prosper. In this process, they have
been taken great responsibilities, by putting down small
but strong means making the dream of theirs possible.
Among these means, appears ‘’Tourism’’: A project that
will globalize their civilization, allowing the continent to
create wealth. An interrogation is then put forth: what has
been the significant impact of this seeming to be a
country’s project on the continent? This study attributes
to itself the duty of putting light on what tourism stand
for, exploring Benin tourism with the objective of helping
foreign tourists in knowing it attractive civilization.
II- CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION OF TOURISM AND

LEISURE
The year 1811 is given by the Oxford English Dictionary
for the first appearance of the word tourism. The root or
etymology, according to that and other dictionaries, is the
Greek word for a tool used in describing a circle. In a
sense, tourism intrinsically involves a circular itinerary in
that tourists return to their point of origin, home.
According to United Nations World Tourism Organization,
it is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which
entails the movement of people to countries or places
outside their usual environment for personal or business/
professional purposes.
While leisure is the time when one is not working or doing
other duties.
Plato and Aristotle describe it as the sense not of inactivity
but of freedom from the need to work in order to secure
the necessities of life.
It is then a period or time during one rest from his or her
daily occupation.
Why is this so important for a country to count tourism
and leisure in its agenda?
This is what this writing paper wants to make you know
and more and for this we will explore the tourism of an
African country: Benin also known as Hogbonu.

III- MINISTER OF TOURISM AND LEISURE OF BENIN

 o WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR?
The Ministry of Tourism, of culture and of arts,
abbreviated MTCA, is the ministerial department of
the Beninese government in charge of the design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of state
policy on tourism, culture and arts. Also known as
the Ministry of Culture, its headquarters is located in
the Haie Vive district, on the airport road in the 12th
arrondissement of Cotonou, in the same building as
the Ministry of Commerce with its back to the
establishment French Teaching Montaigne in
Cotonou. It’s headed by a minister, member of the
Beninese government.
It current headmaster’s name is Babalola Jean
Michel Hervé ABIMBOLA, elected the May 23, 2021.
The institution is based on a law decree: 2021-401 of
July the 28 2021 falling on the attributions, the
organization and the function of the Ministry.
o IT STRUCTURE
Success is the result of constant programming.
It’s then crucial for a country not only to have
objectives but to have good plans as well. This determines
the quality of the implementation. As far as Beninese
projects are concerned, the government has set up
institutions under the Ministry, allowing it to realize its
goals:

 ANTP-National Agency for the Promotion of

Heritage and Tourism Development
It has the mission of making Benin one of the leading
destinations in West Africa. For this, its role is to highlight
the natural, historical and culture heritage.
This then involves the creation and the development
of innovative tourism projects, which will offer a unique
experience to future visitors to Benin. The private sector
will play a central role in the development of these
projects. The ANTP will accompany and provide technical
and financial support to these future partners. Many are
the projects of the organization:
 Ouidah project: Identical
reconstruction of the historic city
of Ouidah
This project in Ouidah because the city offers to the
world the testimony of its painful past and preserves this
memory in places and places with strong symbolic value.
The identical reconstruction project of the historic
city of Ouidah will then ultimately ensure that this
memory never fades and aims to make the city of Ouidah
one of the pillars of sub- regional tourism.
  Ganvié project: identical
reconstruction of the city lakeside
The lakeside city of Ganvié, a place of refuge for a
population fleeing slave raids, has become a major tourist
site in West Africa. Inscribed on the UNESCO indicative list
since 1996, it has experienced a drop in the attendance
rate with the development of permanent houses (concrete
piles and walls, sheet metal roofs) replacing traditional
constructions (wooden house and roofs in thatch), for
around twenty years.
The objective of the ANTP is then to contribute to
improving the environment and living conditions of
populations with a view to promoting economic
development through tourism.
We also have the Amazon project and more other …
It’s pivotal to notice that the ANTP is the one in
charge of the creation of Beninese cultural means such as
traditional fabrics, shoes, bracelets…

 Agency of Benin Tourism

Created the 12 October 2022, with the decree No
2022- 558, Benin Tourism is the agency of the State for the
development of touristic industry and the promotion of
Beninese destinations on all the markets.
 Its mission will be to coordinate all actions aimed at
promoting and strengthening Benin’s tourism positioning
on the international market. It’s then the institution
programed in the marketing of touristic objects.

 ADAC BENIN- Agency of Development of Arts and

of Culture
The Arts and Culture Development Agency is a
Beninese public establishment with social and cultural
character, placed under the supervision of the Ministry of
Tourism, Culture and the Arts, created in 2023 by decree.
Its mission is to contribute to the promotion of the visual
arts in all its forms. As such, it is responsible, among other
things like:
 Implementing state policy in the field of visual
art;
 Revealing visual artists;
 Creating momentum around the art market;
 Constituting the contemporary artistic heritage
of the State.

o IT EFFECTS
During a press, the government minister, Jean-
Michel ABIMBOLA, the tourism minister revealed
that 44 000 people were present during the Vodun
 day’s festivities on January 9, 2024 at the beach of
Ouidah, and 53 000 persons at the party of January
10, so that the organizers were expecting 10 000 or
15 000 people per day. To reinforce the saying of the
minister, Wenceslas ADJOGNON-MONNON, chief of
the Vodun days projects pursue the day after the
party: “There were a world of people so that we were
obliged to search for additional chairs; people were as
much as the sand of the beach that places were not
sufficient” he said.
Danxome has also welcomed in 2023, a number of
120 000 international tourists either 20% compared
to the recent year.

o REALIZATIONS OF THE ORGANIZATION

 Museum construction activities of the Amazon’s

epic and Danxome’s king in Abomey and
Bohicon cities and the entire Zou department
estimated at 37 billion FCFA
 Touristic infrastructures rehabilitation at
Allada in the objective of taking in the House of
 Heritage and Tourism started in 2020 with an
estimative price of 1 billion.
 Construction of the International Museum of
Vodun arts and civilizations at Porto- Novo
(Adandé’s and Honmè’s museum
 Making the Pendjari and W, the Parks of
reference in the West Africa
 Show up the attractiveness of Danxome
touristic sites in a context of resilience to
climatic change in the seventy-seven Danxome
towns
 Reinvention of the Ganvié lakeside through the
improvement of the population lives of Ganvié.
It is then question of making Ganvié a showcase
of lakeside tourism, an authentic atypical and
original destination with an estimated cost of
81 billion.
https://beninrevele.bj/secteur/tourisme/

We must not forget that at the air of 2025, the

government is projecting to adopt a country brand for the
promotion of tourism entitled “UN MONDE DE
SPLENDEURS”. This initiative aims to make the brand
country a platform for the promotion of touristic
attraction, reinforce the affiliation feeling of Danxome
 citizens toward the country, attract the professional
qualified and the international talents and in last reinforce
the confidence of investors, supported the tourism
minister Jean- Michel ABIMBOLA.
https://lematinal.bj/tourisme-le-benin-une-
destination-de-reve-en-2025/

o PERSPECTIVES OF THE ORGANIZATION

The government of Talon nurtures the ambition of
showing up the touristic heritage. It wants to
promote its dynamic of investment in the touristic
asset including the history to release an economic
asset contributing to the creation of wealth and job.
According to the government, the 2025 year appears
to be favorable to the implementation of this
objective.

According to Bénin Tourisme, more than 1 billion euros

(more than 650 billion FCFA) have been invested by the
government in large- scale tourism infrastructure to make
tourism, a strategic lever for economic and social
development. In January, Alain Godonou, director of the
Museums program of the National Agency for Tourist Heritage
(ANTP), affirmed that Benin has high expectations for its
tourism industry.
 “There is a mantra that we hear a lot regarding the vision for
the country’s development: reveal Benin to Beninese people
and outside the country. Very concretely, it is a question of
transforming the Beninese economy by investing in its assets,
in particular its centuries-old cultural potential into
prosperity, he explained.”
“Ranked among the 10 must-see destinations to explore in
2024 by Lonely Planet, Benin offers a unique experience where
traditions and modernity blend harmoniously. With pristine
beaches, exceptional national parks and fascinating historical
sites” add Benin Tourisme.
“This partnership represents a unique opportunity for use to
actively contribute to the development of Benin’s tourism
sector. In collaboration with Bénin Tourisme, we will highlight
the exceptional beauty of this country and offer an incredible
experience” Rejoiced Julienne Peron, General Director of Sofitel
Cotonou.

https://www.agenceecofin.com/actualites -
tourisme/2410-122808-le-sofitel-cotonou-signe-un-
partenariat-pour-promouvoir-le-tourisme-au-benin

o HOW CAN ONE BE ACCEPT TO EXPLORE THE

DANXOME HERITAGE AS TOURIST?
During our trip to Cotonou, while once we got the Ministry of
Tourism, Culture and the Arts, searching for data, we were told to
go to the ANTP-National Agency for the Promotion of Heritage and
Tourism Development. Once there, the agent of security of the
institution accepted us in but told us we were not given to enter
without an agreement from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and
the Arts.

Then it is important to know that one can’t neither get the ANTP
without permission nor explore the heritage of Benin.

One of the majeure ways we were told during our encounter with
the Tourism Program Director, Mr. Wenceslas ADJOGNON-
MONNON, is to contact him. This is his invitation card.

Card Invitation of the Tourism Program Director, Mr. Wenceslas

ADJOGNON-MONNON
By contacting with him, one get be allowed to encounter him and
then have central informations on the exploration of the beautiful
heritage of Benin.

IV- CONCLUSION
The project of tourism is a lever for the economic
growth for a country. As Danxome, one of the African
country considered at the international scale as one
in the tail platoon, tourism has been a catalyzer,
 boosting at the international level its heritage,
revealing its beautifulness and glory and diversities.
Tourism is then like a fire to purify and intensify the
gold brightness. Miss it, is a mess.
Long live Benin!
Long live Hogbonu!
God bless our Land!
Benin Children, get up!

Picture: two of our members group with Wenceslas ADJOGNON-

MONNON

V- REFERENCES
https://www.agenceecofin.com/actualites
-tourisme/2410-122808-le-sofitel-cotonou-signe-un-
partenariat-pour-promouvoir-le-tourisme-au-benin

Wikipedia: Agence de Développement des Arts et de la

Culture

https://www.unwto.org/glossary-tourism-terms

https://classe-export.com/index.php/secteurs/
tourisme/79663-le-benin-compte-bien-faire-du-tourisme-
un-levier-de-developpement-economique/

Card Invitation of the Tourism Program Director, Mr.

Wenceslas ADJOGNON-MONNON

Picture: two of our members group with Wenceslas

ADJOGNON-MONNON, the Tourism Program Director