Global Journal of Management and Business Research, F: Real Estate, Event and Tourism Management, Volume 23 Issue 3

Global Journal of Management and Business Research ( F ) XXIII Issue III Version I Year 2023 4 © 2023 Global Journals III. O perational A pitourism C ircuits in the R epublic of B enin a) Favorable Ecological Conditions for the Bee Species The Republic of Benin is located in a particular area of the Guinean Gulf called the Dahomeyan gap, characterized by a break in the rainforest blocks from Liberia to Cameroon (Ern, 1988; Salzmann & Hoelzmann, 2005; Adjossou et al. , 2022). This makes the country, a specific ecological entity in West Africa where the savannah reaches the coast. The country comprises of three large climatic areas bearing an East-West gradient where the East is more humid than the West (ASECNA, 2021). The northern part is characterized by a long dry season of more than six months with 900 mm per year. The centre, with a Sudano-Guinean climate of 1200 mm of water per year, is a transition zone while the south, subequatorial, also has two rainy seasons where rainfall reaches its maximum in the southeast with an average of 1300 mm of water per year over almost eight rainy months. The Vegetation varies from Guinean forests in the southeast to semi-desertic in the far north regions. Diversity and abundance analyses of the melliferous plants (Amakpe et al. , 2015; Balagueman et al. , 2017) showed that the country bore five major melliferous regions. These were the southern melliferous region, the central region, the central-western region, the central north region and the far northern melliferous region. Honeys from each region are determined by the pollen, and nectars of exclusive melliferous plant species, which give them specific organoleptic, nutritional, chemical, and pharmacological properties (Brischoux et al. , 2013; Mensah et al ., 2016). b) Favorable Ecological Conditions for the Bee Species Unlike classic tourism, which satisfies visitors though observing the wonders of nature, inventions, achievements, and challenges of humanity, apitourism is the sharing of goods and services of bees in a given social area (Grigorova et al. , 2016; Pentoja et al. , 2017; Isquierdo-Gascon & Rubio-Gil, 2023;). Integrating apitherapy and the promotion of beehive products in alternative medicine and the diversity of beekeeping systems, it is an interdisciplinary approach to streng- thening the interrelationships between human beings, the bees, and floral resources to achieve socio- economic, cultural, environmental, and spiritual needs (Benin) without compromising the ecological functions necessary for living in harmony with nature (Suligoj, Figure 1: Traditional Honey Bee Hive in Clay Mud (Left) and Hollowed-out Tree Trunks (Right) in the District of Keru (Benin). Figure 2: A Vandalised Apiary in the District Of Djidja (Benin) . More than 20 Hives are Destroyed at this Apiary Each Year. Buzzing opportunities: Integrating apitourism for enriching the tourism heritage of the Republic of Benin