The tourism sector in Morocco needs a strong recovery strategy with sufficient resources, noted the new president of the National Tourism Confederation (CNT), Hamid Bentahar.
“The fundamentals of our profession remain good. The desire to travel will always be there, all the studies carried out both nationally and internationally prove it. But the sector needs a strong recovery strategy with sufficient resources, a will from public authorities and mobilization of all stakeholders“, said Mr. Bentahar in an interview published Thursday by the daily “L’Économiste“.
These are the essential conditions to allow the Moroccan tourism industry to survive, return to growth and regain its place in the national economy, within 24 months, argued the president of the CNT, noting that this strategy must do everything possible to help all stakeholders and businesses of all sizes to recover from this crisis and, beyond that, to project themselves into the future. And to continue: « We cannot speak of a resumption of activity. Generally speaking, all sectors of the sector, namely tour operators, guides, hoteliers, restaurateurs, tourist transporters… have been suffering the massive effects of the crisis for more than 16 months“. “It is therefore essential, today, that we obtain the extension of support measures for employment and tourism businesses until the end of December 2021,” he insisted.
With regard to support measures for the sector, Mr. Bentahar stressed that the discussions already carried out at the level of professional corporations provide in the very short term for three urgent measures to support businesses and jobs. Firstly, these are social measures such as maintaining the CNSS system of the program contract and its extension to December 31, 2021, and the revision of the deadlines for the payments of social charges deferred and due in 2020 and 2021, from 2022 spread over 24 months.
For banking measures, he cited a profiling of the long-term banking schedule with the Groupement Professionnel des Banques du Maroc (GPBM) and the strengthening of the intervention of the Central Guarantee Fund (CCG), the postponement of leasing credits for companies in the transport sector as well as a postponement of credit repayments contracted by employees in the sector. As for the 3rd measure, it concerns taxation. “We are asking for a tax moratorium for 2020 and 2021, for local taxes, in particular professional tax, from January 1, 2022, spread over 24 months without costs or penalties,” he suggested.
He also noted that the tourism program contract was, in fact, counting on a gradual resumption of tourist activity while the current situation and the recent restrictive measures, which we understand, are moving us away from these objectives every day ». And concluded that: “Given the restrictive decisions adopted in several of our source markets, it is likely that the world economy will now be punctuated by regular border closures as well as only stops and starts for the next 12 months“.
SOURCE: maroc-diplomatique.net
