Hotel classification in Togo

The legal framework

The founding text is Decree 89-137/PR of 23 August 1989 on the regulation and classification of tourism establishments, adopted on the same day as Decrees 89-138 (tour guides) and 89-139 (travel agencies)^[1][2].

Its Chapter IV (articles 19 to 29), the only part readable online, sets the operating conditions: public liability insurance, no criminal record, professional training. It prohibits providing a lower standard than the classification declared (article 20), and requires statistics and proper accounts (article 21), an approved annual rate declaration (articles 23 and 24) and periodic inspections, each followed by a report to the minister (articles 25 and 26)^[2].

Order no. 0010/MCT/CAB/CNACET/2021 of 15 November 2021 grants approval to tourism establishments^[3]. Work on updating the 1989 legislation began in 2020, but no new decrees have been found since^[4]. In October 2024 the government announced that the classification and approval procedure would be digitised and that a new tourism law would follow^[10].

The procedure: from authorisation to build to operating licence

The published procedure has two successive stages^[6][7].

1. Authorisation to build. Granted by ministerial order, personal to the holder and non-transferable, it requires work to begin within twelve months. The application includes a stamped request, proof of identity, a criminal record extract, a title deed or lease, and the architectural drawings.
2. Operating licence. Valid for five years and renewable, it is issued within 45 days and no later than ten days after CNACET’s opinion. The application adds the registration card from the CFE (the business registration centre), the manager’s qualifications or proof of experience, health certificates for staff, a certificate of sanitary compliance, and a three-year technical and financial forecast.

The cost depends on the category, the type of establishment and the classification, with no published fee schedule. Applications can be submitted online^[7].

Categories and the criteria grid

The national register published in 2024 classifies hotels from category 5 down to category 1, plus a basic “utility” class, and lists a few unclassified establishments. Each entry shows the number of rooms, the category, and the dates on which the licence was granted and expires^[5][8].

The official grid of criteria for each category is not published online. In practice, a property prepares for its inspection using the known inspection points (condition of the premises, range of services, prices, quality of service, staff presentation) and the harmonised standards adopted by ECOWAS, on which future Togolese regulations will draw.

Our online self-assessment will open for Togo once an official grid can be loaded into it; we will not publish an approximation.

Inspections and penalties

Inspections are carried out by the Direction de la réglementation, de l’inspection et du contrôle des établissements hôteliers et des bars (DRICEHB), the directorate responsible for regulating and inspecting hotels and bars^[12]. They explicitly cover hygiene, safety and fire protection^[13].

Documented campaigns include checks on several hundred establishments in June 2021^[13], and the inspection of 103 hotels and inns in four days in the Kozah prefecture, from 4 to 7 July 2026, during the Evala festival^[14]. No penalties are mentioned in either case.

Opening an establishment without approval is punishable by a two-year ban on opening any tourism establishment (article 28)^[2].

Fire safety and accessibility

We have found no Togolese fire safety regulation specific to public-access buildings (known in French law as “établissements recevant du public”). Building permits are governed by Decree 2016-043/PR and its 2024 implementing order: buildings open to the public fall into category C, with three inspections, drawings signed by a registered architect and a certificate of compliance on completion^[15].

Law 2004-005 on the social protection of persons with disabilities is under revision; we have found no accessibility standard enforceable against privately owned hotels^[16].

This is why our reports deal with fire safety and accessibility in chapters separate from classification, using the good-practice reference agreed in the contract.

Key figures

The first national register, published on 22 May 2024, lists 685 approved establishments: 213 hotels (only one of them in category 5), 66 inns, 53 similar accommodation providers, 34 restaurants, 73 other food outlets, 38 bars, 10 leisure centres, 195 travel agencies and 3 tour guides^[5][9].

These subtotals come from our reading of the published register^[8]; around 55% of approved hotels are in Greater Lomé. Neither the number of unapproved establishments nor the total number of rooms is published.

Still to be confirmed

• The full text of Chapters I to III of Decree 89-137/PR (categories, classification procedure, membership of the commission).
• The criteria grid used by CNACET and the DRICEHB inspection form.
• The schedule of licence fees.
• Progress on updating the legislation and transposing the ECOWAS standards.

We will update this page as soon as these documents are published or obtained, dating each change.

Frequently asked questions