Although the specter of inflationary pressures continues to hover over the prices of both plane tickets and hotel nights, demand is constantly climbing, particularly in the month of August.

This upward rigidity in prices leaves travel agencies with no choice other than innovation to distinguish themselves from each other to customers, notably through the destinations offered, personalized packs, payment facilities, etc.

A strategy that pays off! These packs and proposals, due to their seductive nature, sell like hot cakes, given the comfort they offer in terms of various services.

And among the successful packs are, among others, those of the summer “Umrah” and Istanbul. This is what Mohamed B., manager of a travel agency located in Casablanca, says.

“Our activity is starting to pick up color in recent months. We began preparations for this summer season from last May,” he confides to MAP. And to support: “Today, despite the rise in prices, we are seeing a strong enthusiasm for both domestic and foreign travel.”

For abroad, the most requested destinations are Turkey and Egypt, explains this professional, specifying that during last July, his agency organized four departures to Istanbul for a stay of more than a week, each including around thirty seats. “For this month of August, there is no longer any availability, since all the scheduled seats have been sold. Also, customers are already booking for September,” he adds.

Regarding Egypt, “we offered during July and August, a dual destination program with a 14-day stay combining Sharam El Sheikh and Cairo,” says Mohamed. And note that this offer, although it was not sold at the same pace as that of Turkey, was well received by customers. According to this professional, Moroccans prefer combined trips this year, whether to two countries or two regions in the same country. In addition, particular interest was noted during this period for the summer “Umrah” which occurs just after the Hajj season and before Umrah Al-Mawlid Al-Nabawi. “With the gradual lifting of health restrictions, many Moroccans have asked for “Umrah” for August. As of today, we have managed to sell around forty seats for several departures planned for this month,” said Mohamed. According to him, one of the major challenges surely remains that of acquiring plane tickets, since during this high season period, airlines prefer to sell the majority of tickets directly to individuals rather than to tour operators.

Internal tourism: the comeback! Parallel to this relaunch of the “outgoing” activity (stays abroad), national tourism is not left out, since it is marking a comeback, mainly driven by a succession of measures, including the launch in January of the emergency plan of 2 billion dirhams (MMDH), the reopening of borders in February and the great return of Moroccans living abroad (MRE) with Operation Marhaba. A dynamic which has further materialized to benefit the different ecosystems of the tourism sector (hotels, vacation rentals, restaurants and cafes, road, rail and air transport, etc.).

Moreover, the Minister of Tourism, Crafts and the Social and Solidarity Economy, Fatim-Zahra Ammor, recently indicated that the number of tourists reached 1.14 million in June 2022, an increase of 5% compared to 2019. Over the first six months of this year, nearly 3.4 million foreign tourists visited Morocco, according to the minister who stressed that the surveys carried out have revealed that 51% of Moroccan tourists prefer seaside tourism, 58% prefer to travel during school holidays and 60% prefer to travel with family, while 72% are more interested in the price of tourist services.

Transport follows the trend Considered one of the essential links in the tourism chain, transport, with its different types, aligns with this trend to contribute to the success of this season.

It is in this sense that the National Railway Office (ONCF) had deployed a special Summer 2022 system, based on the scheduling of more than 232 trains/day, including 30 “Al Boraq” trains running every day in both directions, and the strengthening of capacities on the main axes of the rail network, in addition to the doubling of 10 “Al boraq” trains.

These measures pushed more than 4.5 million travelers to choose the train for their trips last July, a figure up 30% compared to the same period in 2021 and 20% compared to 2019 (before covid).

This performance is even more marked on the “Al boraq” trains, whose evolution exceeds 55% compared to the same period in 2021 and 40% compared to 2019.

As for air transport, commercial traffic continues to rise, with the Kingdom’s airports recording a volume of 7,439,275 passengers, through 70,680 flights in the first half of 2022. According to figures from the National Airports Office (ONDA), national airports have achieved a recovery rate compared to H1-2019 of 64% for passengers and 72% for movements. airports.

Source: atlasinfo.fr