The Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT) opened its first delegation in sub-Saharan Africa on Friday in Dakar. Abidjan, the Ivorian economic capital, should follow.
The official inauguration took place on February 10, chaired by Maïmouna Ndoye Seck, Senegalese Minister of Tourism and Air Transport and Abderrafia Zouitene, director general of the ONMT.
According to the Moroccan official, this opening is part of the main axis of South-South cooperation defined by Mohammed VI, and within the framework of the cooperation linking the two countries for a long time.
« During last November’s visit to Dakar by Mohammed VI, several agreements on tourism had been sealed with the Senegalese government, and today, the opening of this delegation is part of their implementation », he explains to Jeune Afrique.
Strategic objectives
More concretely, the strategic objectives of this new delegation will consist, among other things, in bringing the private sectors of the two countries closer together, in more sharing of experiences in terms of digital communication, organization of trade fairs or training. The prospecting of new niches will not be left out either.
“We want, for example, to strengthen religious tourism towards the city of Fez which houses the mausoleum of Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Chérif [founder of the most widespread Tidjane movement in Africa], and which has millions of followers in Senegal, reveals Abderrafia Zouitene. We will see with the Senegalese side how to establish low cost direct Dakar-Fez flights, with a Senegalese or Moroccan airline.
The Senegal destination will also be promoted among Moroccans, because the ambition of the Shereef kingdom is to develop intra-African tourism by building a new approach, adds the head of the ONMT.
The call for tenders for the organization in Morocco of an international tourism fair entirely dedicated to the continent has also been launched, and the Ivorian economic capital Abidjan is in the ONMT’s sights to host its second delegation in the region.
