The tour operators of Casablanca-Settat have reached a mature stage of reflection and are truly at the rendezvous of the major vital decisions of their profession.
On the menu for their plenary assembly on February 1 in Casablanca, the provisions of the pilgrimage file for this year. Many in the conclave, they debated 4 cardinal axes:
– The commercial process of the pilgrimage operation: Return to the old system or maintaining the new?
– Safety net.
– The dark “affair” Taha Elbaz.
– Enabling new security parameters.
Announcing the color in his introductory speech, the President of ARAVCS O. C. Alami, was pleased to note that the ad hoc commission set up for the haj operation was well deployed because it was perfectly managed. “The transparency with which the pilgrimage commission, chaired by Khalid Benazzouz (Secretary General of the FNAVM), had carried out this file is to be welcomed, because this commission has put on its hat, not only regional but also national, to carry it out in perfect symbiosis with the special commission of the Ministry of Habous,” he announced.
Among approximately 81 agencies which are labeled out of a total of 187 at the national level, tour operators in the Casablanca-Settat Region intend to mobilize for the major meeting scheduled for February 7 in Rabat with the Ministry of Habous to find out what is happening with the arrangements made for this year’s pilgrimage operation. A meeting which is already causing a lot of commotion among agencies in the region who do not intend to sit at the same table with Amal Karioun. Among the reproaches made to him: his personal and anti-status decision to constitute a pilgrimage commission with 3 heads of his « allies », for the talks with the Ministry of Habous without reporting to his close collaborators, such as the Secretary General of the federation K. Benazouz, his silence around the famous affair of the Saudi Tha Elbaz, indebted to Moroccan travel agencies, disillusioned, of 6 million dirhams. Dodgy file which has been dragging on since 2014 despite reminders to Amal Karioun who says he is not concerned at all, while the FNAVM’s primary prerogative is the defense of the interests and rights of its members. There’s something wrong with the hints of a divisive attitude in the ranks of tour operators who, instead of seeing their cause defended as it should be with those concerned for the pilgrimage operation, find themselves amputated by the follow-up of certain regions conciliatory with Karioun.
The February 7 meeting promises to be spectacular and full of twists and turns. According to the tour operators gathered, it will constitute a memorable date in their annals. Some, determined, are even calling for the provocation of an extraordinary elective general assembly to remove Karioun from the presidency. To do this, they would need 4 regional votes to hold it. Those of Casablanca-Settat and Marrakech-Safi having already been acquired.
The members of the ARAVCS showed, during their meeting, a show of unity, since the 4 axes debated were mostly voted for: Maintenance of the current pilgrimage system, creation of a management fund to protect the safety net guarantee fund, judicial focus on the Elbaz affair and introduction of « pluses » guaranteeing the quality of the Haj package, such as setting up an operational call center before and after the operation for a functional period of 15 days before and 15 days after.
