REPORT. With the reopening of borders and the end of restrictions, Morocco has worked hard on a vast reconquest operation.
Reunion in the countryside
“MREs are delighted and eager to return to Morocco for this summer period! Some even returned early, by boat. The prices are reasonable and affordable. No more mandatory PCR test for vaccinated people. Everyone can’t wait to come to their native country,” rejoices Hayat El Moundir, president of the Association of Moroccans in the department of Isère, from France.
Same lively spirit from Mountassir who lives in Germany and who returns home after five years of absence: “It’s okay… The tickets are not expensive at all, you just have to buy them in advance. It’s an open secret. You shouldn’t come and whine and say that tickets are expensive if you get them the day before your trip! », he explains.
In Asilah, a coastal town south of Tangier, it is Hajja Neftaha who cries with joy during the reunion with her daughter Yasmine, whose t-shirt is practically wet from her mother’s tears. “Nothing can contain my joy. I finally saw my daughter again, my pampered one, the light in my eyes. I thank King Mohammed VI for reopening the borders! I thought that with the pandemic, I was not going to see my daughter again. I had lost sleep. I sold my jewelry to buy him the first available US-Morocco flight! », Hajja Neftaha tells us with emotion.
That said, before this reunion, some had to overcome some obstacles…
Marhaba… subject to formal conditions
To enter the kingdom, there are always conditions to be met given the pandemic situation which seems to be reviving in recent weeks. Ali, who lives in Canada and often travels back and forth from Casablanca to Montreal, knows the song: “You must present a valid vaccination passport or the negative result of a PCR test not older than 72 hours. And that’s not all! You must also complete a passenger health form each time. In short, you need to have a complete vaccination schedule depending on the country of origin,” he tells us.
According to the Moroccan Minister of Health and Social Protection, Khalid Aït Taleb, the kingdom’s health authorities have mobilized the health system for epidemiological surveillance, its structures and frameworks, with a view to confronting – in addition to Covid-19 – monkeypox (Monkeypox) and preventing its spread. The health authorities have also taken the initiative to train health professionals and inform them about this disease, which has never existed in Morocco.
In any case, and despite these formal restrictions, the overall impression is clear: in the kingdom’s ports and airports, MREs, just like tourists, seem happy to land in Morocco. “150 million DH were mobilized to prepare the transit operation,” Moussa, manager at the port of Al Hoceima, tells us. All this money was injected to ensure the fluidity and comfort of these beautiful people who will return to the country. We thought about strengthening reception capacities, without forgetting the comfort of travelers…” he tells us.
And all things considered, these efforts made by Morocco are already starting to yield good results: the first day of Operation Marhaba 2022 recorded a 40% increase in volume in arrivals compared to 2019, according to corroborating sources from the Foundation. In terms of passenger numbers, that’s 13,000 people on the first day alone. Three million tourists are expected that year, and the indicators put this figure in the possible box.
Tourism: encouraging figures and new projects
One and a half million tourists have already arrived in Morocco between January and April 2022, according to the Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Fatim-Zahra Ammor. “This official statement is based on serious figures. So by September 2022, we will comfortably reach the target of three million tourists,” confidently confirms a parliamentary source close to the minister’s party, the National Rally of Independents (RNI).
During a working meeting, the Minister of Tourism also announced that in terms of currencies, Morocco has already collected 1.5 billion dollars just between January and April 2022. Revenues exceeded 14.62 billion dirhams at the end of April 2022, compared to 6.54 during the same period of 2021, according to the Office of Tourism. changes.
At the same time, Fatim-Zahra Ammor pleaded during her recent speech for the strengthening of domestic tourism. The latter represents almost 30% of nights in tourist accommodation establishments known as EHT, classified at the national level. Moreover, during the health crisis, domestic tourism constituted 50% of overnight stays in 2020 and 69% in 2021. The minister also underlined that 72% of Moroccans attach importance to the prices of tourist services.
source: lepoint.fr
