The violent earthquake that hit Turkey this week triggered several cancellations from Moroccan travel agencies. Moroccan travelers seem to be avoiding going to a country that is still disturbed even if the main tourist cities have not been affected.
More than 24,000 people died in the violent earthquake which shook Syria and southeastern Turkey on Monday February 6, 2023, according to the latest report from the authorities. Beyond the enormous human and material losses, economic activity was severely disrupted throughout Turkey, particularly the tourism sector which faced several cancellations. If Turkey has positioned itself in recent years as a destination of choice for Moroccan tourists, travel agencies have recorded a high rate of cancellation of reservations in recent days, given the general climate of agitation and turmoil in the region, says Mohamed Semlali, president of the National Federation of Travel Agencies of Morocco (FNAVM), in a statement for Le360.
“Almost all of the reservations for Turkey for this month have been canceled. This is a real tragedy that the country is going through at the moment and it is normal that people are worried and avoid visiting the region during this period of disruption. This is a case of force majeure, there should be no problem reimbursing customers, we are in the process of discussing this with the airlines,” he underlines. And added: “Although few visit Morocco in general, Turkish travelers have also canceled their planned stays in the Kingdom, being still in shock from the latest events and preferring to stay with their loved ones.” Furthermore, Semlali reports that “different travel agencies in Morocco have received reservation requests in recent days from foreign tourists who were preparing to go to Turkey in the coming weeks and who ultimately preferred to opt for Morocco, a safer destination.”
For his part, the president of the Regional Association of Travel Agencies of Casablanca-Settat (ARAVCS), Khalid Benazzouz, underlines that “the demand for Turkey is relatively low during this period, in due to climatic conditions”, noting all the same that “some customers maintained their reservation for Turkey and went, this week, to cities like Istanbul which were not affected”. For Benazzouz, Moroccan operators will not be much impacted by the drama that shook Turkey, most of their activity during this period being oriented towards “the organization of Umras for the month of Ramadan”.
source: https://fr.le360.ma
