Please note, all French nationals must have a passport. The exemption concerning TO customers, which was the subject of a circular this summer, is actually struggling to be applied, to the great dismay of tour operators.
Dated July 13, an official letter from the Ministry of the Interior Moroccan addressed to the Minister of Tourism of Morocco promised to bring a little breathing space to the TO for their clients traveling to the kingdom.
A recommendation without follow-up
In order to « facilitate access for European tourists to the kingdom », this circular provided that provided that they travel with a TO and that the latter has submitted to the Directorate General of National Security (DGSN), 72 hours before arrival, the nominative list of its clients, European nationals, not subject to a visa, could be satisfied with a valid identity card to enter Morocco. In short, waive the passport requirement decided on June 24, 2015 in the interest of enhanced security.
« We have had no official communication or clarification of application concerning this circular », deplores François Malcuit, director of transport at Thomas Cook/Jet tours. « We don’t know where or to whom to send these lists. We tried to do so without success a few days ago. In short, it is impossible to send customers away under these conditions with just their identity card. »
When in doubt and without « operational details », Thomas Cook France, such as TUI France and Seto tour operators as a whole therefore stick to the passport requirement. “Faced with the difficulties and uncertainties of interpretation and application of this exceptional rule, the Seto recommends to its members to recommend in all cases the possession of a valid passport to travel to Morocco”, indicates the Union of Tour-Operating Companies on its SIS portal.
« We consider that there is still a lack of visibility on the coherent implementation of this system », regrets Jurgen Bachmann, secretary general of Seto.
The passport remains the rule without exception
Similarly, on its Travel Advice site, the Quai d’Orsay has not modified its instructions of June 25 and continues to specify, as of August 27, that « For a stay of three months or less, a valid passport is obligatory, including for groups on organized tourist trips ».
Contacted yesterday by us, the Moroccan National Tourist Office in Paris admits the little information it has. After « consulting the Moroccan Embassy in Paris », he told us « the only information we have concerns the procedure to follow which stipulates that the TO receptionist in Morocco must submit (at least 72 hours in advance) the list to the regulatory department at the Ministry of Tourism (Tel: +212 537.57.78.01 / +212 537.57.78.02). will be responsible for sending the list to the DGSN/Regulatory Directorate (+2125 37 72 40 11) for granting entry authorizations. »
Too many unanswered questions
In practice, however, too many questions remain unanswered. Seto also listed them and sent them to the ONMT on July 21, without an official response to date.
Among other things: will the DGSN acknowledge receipt of this PNL (Passengers Name List) as proof that the TO transmitted it on time? How will the border police be able to distinguish a passenger who is on the PNL from another who is not there? Is this measure valid for all airports in the Kingdom? Do the authorities guarantee that this procedure will be respected at all airport border crossings and will not result in refusal of access to the Kingdom as long as the tour operator has complied with its obligations? Is there a minimum number of participants required (8 previously)? Will the hotel voucher still be claimed?
A negative impact on sales
So many uncertainties which force tour operators to always impose passports on their customers but obviously handicap sales. “No one is going to take the risk of sending a client with an identity card. There is no follow-up,” regrets a professional.
Morocco, however, really needs clear communication. According to the latest Snav/Atout France barometer, departures to the kingdom are in free fall, -42% cumulatively since the start of the year as of July 30.
Source: http://www.lechotouristique.com/article/maroc-cafouillage-autour-des-formalites-d-entree,76498
