Finally signs of recovery for tourism. Since the beginning of September, the Ministry of Tourism has increased its meetings with professionals in the sector, as well as with foreign partners. The minister, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, also made a point of participating in the 112th session of the executive council of the World Tourism Organization in Tbilisi, Georgia (from September 15 to 17). Council during which Covid was at the heart of the debates.
The pandemic caused a loss of $460 billion for the sector in the first half of the year, according to UNWTO estimates. That is five times more than the losses generated by the financial crisis of 2009. The challenge today for all tourist destinations is to keep the sector standing. If elsewhere some countries rely on internal tourism, in Morocco, the latter has not given the expected results.
Recovery could only succeed through international tourism. “For professionals, solutions for the preservation of the sector and its revival must also be discussed on an international level,” underlines Fouzi Zemrani, vice-president of the National Tourism Confederation.
“Common sense would dictate that all States work together to get the world out of this crisis,” he adds. In parallel with the minister’s meetings in Tbilisi, other meetings, this time in Paris, discussed Morocco’s tourism potential on the occasion of the general assembly of Travel Companies.
The Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT), which participated, wanted to reassure French travel advisors. Objective: maintain Morocco’s programming with historic TOs, such as Karavel Fram Promovacances or NG travel, Voyage Privé… Except that to keep Morocco at the top of the list in the agendas of TOs and airlines, it will take more than a presence in meetings, experts estimate.
SOURCE: leconomiste.com
