The year 2017 promises to be a good year for Moroccan tourism, despite the international situation. This is, in any case, the conviction displayed by the CEO of the ONMT, Abderrafie Zouiten who held a press briefing yesterday in Rabat.
“The favorable trend which marked the last months of 2016 and the strong increase of 10% recorded in January-February 2017 allow the destination Morocco to hope for encouraging results of +6%, for the year 2017 in a context which remains difficult”. This is what the director general of the Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT), Abderrafie Zouiten, would like to emphasize. This progression represents more than 600,000 additional tourists for the Morocco destination in 2017.
The ONMT is banking on new tools to attract tourists from different countries. Classic communication does not make it possible to realize ambitions. “What was valid a few years ago is no longer valid now,” Zouiten insists on several occasions.
So for example, Morocco’s presence at international trade fairs has been rethought because the return on investment “is not significant”. The kingdom no longer participates in around twenty trade fairs. The savings made thanks to this new vision make it possible to invest in digital communication as well as in supporting airlines. The aspect of air development is absolutely essential. To convert the positive image that Morocco has built internationally into flows, the air policy must be there both in terms of frequencies and competitiveness of prices. New openings are planned from April until October this year. These are, for example, Tangier (Paris Orly, Palma de Mallorca and Eindhoven), Fez (Lyon, Strasbourg, London Gatwick and Barcelona), Agadir (Warsaw, Dublin and Manchester)…
Dakhla linked to the international
For the first time, the city of Dakhla will be linked internationally. From next November, a weekly Paris-Dakhla flight will be operated by the low-cost airline, Transavia, thanks to a partnership with the ONMT. The Paris airport will be used as a European hub and will allow the Dakhla destination to target tourists departing from different European markets. The objective is to subsequently increase to two flights per week and connect Dakhla to other European cities. The office has been working on Dakhla for two years now to position it internationally. Indeed, several targeted operations are organized annually to promote the destination, particularly among prescribers: tour operators, journalists, bloggers, opinion leaders, etc.
Air travel, a challenge in Africa
Regarding Africa, air flight prices still remain high. Until then, the Senegalese come first among African tourists visiting Morocco: 60,000 out of a total of 200,000. “To attract African tourists, flight prices must reflect those between Morocco and Europe,” according to Zouiten. The office, let us remember, opened a delegation in Dakar last February. A direct service between this African capital and Fez is necessary to promote cultural and spiritual tourism.
Communicate values
In terms of communication, the ONMT works in the field of values to maximize the impact on potential tourists. Already in 2016, several actions have been carried out. During the first quarter of the current year, radio campaigns were launched particularly on the French market. “It was important to regain a foothold on the French market which represents a third for Morocco,” underlines Zouiten. From today, a campaign in the French written press (Le Monde, le Point, l’Express, Paris-Match, Le Nouvel Observateur) will be launched to highlight the image of Morocco based on the Travel Diaries of Eugène Delacroix. The choice fell on a significant hook: “This place is made for painters….. beauty abounds there”, to accompany images which show the exceptional side of the Morocco destination. Added to this is the production of films by the famous director Yann Arthus Bertrand which will be broadcast alongside all trade fair events as well as online.
The ONMT organizes press trips to reinforce the positive image of Morocco. As such, more than 1,400 journalists are invited in 2017. Furthermore, digital communication is now a priority. It must be said that this tool is effective and less expensive than traditional communication, especially since the ONMT’s budget is limited compared to its ambitions. In this regard, social networks are an essential tool. To achieve the expected objectives, international bloggers with a high number of followers are used. The content developed by the office and distributed online is taken up by bloggers, segmented by theme (sustainable development, cultural tourism, gastronomy, etc.). The positive engagement of several bloggers is giving a boost to the Morocco destination, according to Zouiten. The CEO of the ONMT shows his satisfaction: this approach is very profitable. “Never has the image of Morocco been so positive,” he said.
Market diversification
The ONMT focuses on market diversification. The office explains the record recorded by revenues from the tourism sector which reached a record peak of 63.20 billion dirhams at the end of December 2016 (+3.4%), mainly, by the strategy of diversification of targeted markets which gave satisfactory results in 2016. And the prospects for 2017 are promising, especially for Russia. Today, the idea is to work on two aspects: national communication on the Morocco destination and that relating to the specificities of each of the twelve regions. It’s a long-term job. A design office has just been hired by the office to work with each region on its own brand.
The ONMT intends to initiate a new approach to tourism promotion inspired by the advanced regionalization project. The ambition is to strengthen cooperation between the ONMT and the different regions of the kingdom by pooling the financial and human resources allocated to promotion and capitalizing on the “local expertise” of the regions and the professional “expertise” of the ONMT. A study will be carried out to formalize the naming (creation of brand names), produce customer rallying points and define an appropriate mode of governance.
source: leseco
