The rising collaboration between Nigerian and Beninese tourism operators is opening new enterprise alternatives, attracting extra guests and steadily breaking down boundaries between Anglophone and Francophone West Africa.
For Mrs. Olamma Ojukwu, Chief Executive Officer of GOTA Voyage, the journey and tourism arm of GOTA International Group, partnerships amongst tour operators are important to unlocking the area’s tourism potential, strengthening cross-border relationships and selling locations which have lengthy remained underexplored.
Speaking on the sidelines of the twenty second Akwaaba African Travel Market, Ojukwu highlighted Benin Republic’s cultural heritage, rising tourism points of interest and hospitality choices, whereas reflecting on how familiarisation visits and business networking are translating into enterprise alternatives between the 2 international locations.
She stated: “Since 2016, we had the speedy previous president that the entire world is speaking about that determined to place Benin Republic on the map of Africa. In the early twenties, you’ll get out of Benin and inform individuals you’re from Benin, and they might ask you to deliver the map. We needed to say it is rather near Nigeria, Togo and Ghana for them to really know the place you’re coming from.
“But the previous president, Patrice Talon, took Benin to the map of the world. Let me say, he reintroduced Benin. Today, you come to Benin, and we’ve an emblem known as the Amazon, the Woman King. You need to come to West Africa and also you don’t have Benin in your map? It’s like you haven’t begun, as a result of all people needs to have an image of the Amazon.
“We are additionally promoting the coastal street of Benin, from the border all the way in which to our historic metropolis, Bida. You have the categorical street, you see the seashores, and we’ve put up waterfront eating places and buildings the place all people needs to return and sit down and really feel like they’re in Alicante, Spain, proper subsequent door.
“Benin is that country where you know you have no light issues, no water issues, the nightlife is top-notch, you leave your doors open and you don’t have traffic issues. These are many more natural things we are selling in Benin.”
She added: “We introduced the operators we had been speaking about to expertise the Venice of Africa, which is our Ganvié. Till in the present day, Benin is that West African nation that has determined to make our tradition and faith top-notch and sellable to the world. It is the cradle of Voodoo. You come to Benin, and you’ve got the African faith nonetheless being celebrated. That is why we’ve Voodoo, which we have fun each first week of January. All that and plenty of extra are what we’ve come to promote at Akwaaba.
“GOTA Voyage is definitely in Benin, Togo and Nigeria. Being Nigerian-born, we had the highest tour operators come to expertise Benin for 3 days. Today, as you noticed at this occasion, the final supervisor of Azalaï Hotel got here together with her workforce to exhibit right here. Azalaï Hotel is likely one of the two resorts that hosted them.
“She now has a whole lot of Nigerian tour operators bringing vacationers from Nigeria to go to Benin. After the occasion, they left for Abuja to have interaction companions who had been coming to satisfy them in Benin, just because that they had tour operators who visited their lodge and that relationship was prolonged. This reveals that a whole lot of enterprise is now going down between the 2 international locations just because Nigerian tour operators visited Benin.
“West Africa is waking up. When I began coming in 2011, and from 2016 after we started to see extra contributors, we had been 4. Today, we’re 9. This collaboration, I let you know, is just going to develop, and it’ll amaze you.
“The Benin government sent three delegates to the 2026 Akwaaba. They came to find out why they should exhibit next year. This collaboration has gone beyond the stakeholders; it has reached the government. That means policies around tourism will begin to change, further enhancing the relationship between our two countries.”
