After two difficult years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the magic of Marrakech and its assets is working again. The influx of tourists is resuming and could even accelerate after the extraordinary publicity made by the big football stars who rushed to the city during the month of June 2022.
On the legendary Jamaa El Fna square, the cool nights despite the approach of summer look set to be particularly lively this year. The snake charmers have already found their animals but above all their audience from all corners of the world, after two gloomy summer seasons in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The benches of popular restaurants offering the main local specialties are crowded, attracting foreigners eager for unique culinary experiences, or even domestic visitors looking for a hearty meal at a relatively affordable price.
This return to life is felt deep in the narrow and mystical streets of the medina – classified as a UNESCO world heritage site – which is teeming with tourists who come to explore the thousand-year-old city and its architectural jewels whose reputation is a dream throughout the world. The Koutoubia mosque and minaret, the Badi palace, the Ben Youssef madrasa, and the tombs of the Saadians, to name just a few. It’s difficult to do better than this city, which has seen several powerful dynasties succeed one another over the centuries, from its founders in the 11th century, the Almoravids, to the Alawites via the Almohads. A dynamic that allows activities linked to tourism to regain color. The managers of souvenir stalls and Moroccan craft products are smiling again, while the clientele is getting closer and closer to the pre-pandemic level, and above all is more generous.
Marrakech laughs again
A short distance from here, in one of the emblematic spaces of the Ocher City, the Bahia Palace, another audience rushes to attend an event whose return has been long awaited: the Marrakech of laughter. Launched in 2011, this event has international dimensions, thanks to its sponsor, the famous Franco-Moroccan comedian Jamel Debbouze, but above all for his very special assistance. And to celebrate its 10th anniversary and its return after two years of absence as it should be, Marrakech du Rire attracted, from June 15 to 18, 2022, major world figures in football and entertainment. The opening gala was hosted by the Humouraji troupe, which brings together a panel of talented Moroccan artist-comedians, including Taliss, Rachid Rafik, Said & Wadie, Ayoub Idri, Fadoua Taleb, Driss & Mehdi, Yassine Ghelfane, Brahim Kabbaj, Adnane El Azaar, Mounaim Seffouri and Ahmed El Younami. The members of the famous Marrakech Comedy Club, which includes ten great comedians and new talents, performed in front of a hilarious audience for a series of standups for an hour and a half. This special edition ended in style with the big Gala for Jamel and his friends. On the menu, the creator of the festival himself, but also several prestigious guests from the artistic world for an exceptional and unique show. A show broadcast by the French channel M6 like every year, and scheduled around the world throughout the year.
VIP Guests
The imperial city even achieved what the biggest European clubs could not do: bringing together the two greatest players of the current generation, the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé and the Norwegian Erling Haaland, in the same city and at the same time. The two stars will not wear the colors of the same club, but have still succumbed to the charm of Marrakech. Their photos against the backdrop of the emblematic palm trees of Marrakech, or in front of traditional Moroccan doors, have gone around the web. Accompanied by his teammate at Paris Saint-Germain, Moroccan international Achraf Hakimi, Kylian Mbappé even went to a village in the region to visit orphans and participate in charity activities.
A huge communication coup for tourism in the city and the entire Kingdom, especially since these stars enjoy formidable notoriety in the media, or even on social networks where they have several tens of millions of followers. And the list doesn’t stop there. Among the VIPs who rushed to Marrakech for its laughter festival, we find the Algerian international Ryad Mahrez, and his teammate Islam Slimani, whose presence did not fail to provoke debate in the Algerian press while relations between the two countries have been shaken by a deep crisis for more than a year and a half. But the two Fennecs were indifferent to the criticism. It’s hard to say no to the charm of the Ocher City, whatever the price to pay.
Morocco’s tourist showcase, Marrakech was logically the main victim of the sector’s crisis following the outbreak of the pandemic more than two years ago. In 2021, the Kingdom welcomed only 3.7 million foreign tourists, well below the record of 13 million recorded in 2019. In terms of revenue, the fall was also catastrophic: 34 billion dirhams in 2021, compared to 80 billion in 2019. And it is through the same Marrakech that the recovery mainly passes. Of the 48 new lines announced by the National Airports Office for the 2022 summer season, Marrakech Menara airport comes out on top with 12 new lines. On the national level, the improvement is slowly being confirmed, with travel revenues which stood at 9.7 billion DH in the 1st quarter of 2022, an increase of almost 80% compared to the same period in 2021.
A positive development which will certainly be confirmed upon publication of the figures for the second half of 2022, which will be positively impacted by the lifting of the obligation to present a complete vaccination pass and a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours at the same time, recorded by the government on May 17. Good news for a tourism sector, which represented in 2019, before the pandemic, no less than 7% of Morocco’s GDP, not to mention its importance for other related sectors of activity.
source:maroc-hebdo.press.ma
