Tourism and employment: the case of Togo

Abstract

This paper sets to investigate whether and to what extent the development of tourism sector in Togo is associated with and possibly responsible for economic growth, employment creation and generation of wealth in the country. Results from this paper shows that the development of tourism in Togo has created both business and employment opportunities and that the expansion of the workforce in this sector has been associated with, and to some extent it has been responsible for, a decline in the unemployment rate in the country. In light of these findings, we recommend that the Togolese government should ensure that the tourism sector is strategically built in such a way that it forms an integral part of all of its development plans and that more serious efforts are invested in marketing the sector which is currently largely underutilized.