# Eco-friendly travel in Benin

> Direct flights, zemidjans, local sourcing — what genuinely reduces your impact when you travel in Benin and Cotonou.

Canonical: https://www.beninroyalhotel.com/en/blog/sustainable-travel-tips
Language: en

- Published: April 5, 2025
- Updated: September 2026
- Category: Lifestyle
- Read time: 5 min read
- Author: Commercial — Sales & Marketing

Sustainable travel has moved well beyond reusing your towel. The systemic changes are happening at the infrastructure level — but the individual choices you make still compound meaningfully, especially when millions of travellers make the same ones. In Benin those choices are unusually easy to see the effect of.

## Before you leave

Choose direct flights wherever possible — take-off and landing produce the most emissions per journey. Pack light, because fuel consumption scales with aircraft weight. If offsetting your carbon is part of your practice, use a verified scheme like Gold Standard rather than airline-native offset programmes, which are rarely independently audited.

## At the hotel

Ask about the hotel's actual sustainability practices — not just their marketing copy. At Benin Royal Hotel, we have a standing linen reuse programme, LED lighting throughout, locally sourced menus, and a policy of not stocking single-use plastic toiletries. These aren't the most dramatic interventions, but they're consistent. Our [restaurant](https://www.beninroyalhotel.com/restaurant) sources from local Beninese farms and fishermen, which is why the menu changes seasonally — and why nothing is flown in.

> "The most sustainable dish is the one made from locally grown ingredients, served without packaging waste, at a restaurant that doesn't fly produce in."
>
> — Andilath BOURAIMA, Customer Relationship Manager

## In the city

Use Cotonou's shared taxi-bikes (zemidjans) where you're comfortable doing so — they produce far fewer per-person emissions than private rides. Eat at local markets and maquis, which have much lower supply chain footprints than international chains. Local also happens to be cheaper: the same logic applies to where you sleep, as our guide to [budget hotels in Cotonou](https://www.beninroyalhotel.com/blog/budget-friendly-hotels) explains.

## In Benin specifically

Slow travel rewards you here. The [Historical Slave Route to Ouidah](https://www.beninroyalhotel.com/activities) and the craft villages around Cotonou deserve a full day, not a rushed stop. Fewer, longer connections beat several short hops — for your carbon footprint and for your experience.