Tourism Canary Islands / Morocco Great success of the Forum for Tourism Modernization. The Agadir case: repositioning of a mature destination.

The observation of the hotel sector in Agadir, the country’s leading seaside destination, deserves a real repositioning due to the dilapidation of certain hotel establishments and the aging of the destination in comparison with new competing tourist products, which are emerging around the Mediterranean, in particular.

The observation of the hotel sector in Agadir, the country’s leading seaside destination, deserves a real repositioning due to the dilapidation of certain hotel establishments and the aging of the destination in comparison to new competing tourist products, which are emerging around the Mediterranean, in particular.
The Forum on the subject of the tourist modernization of Agadir, organized by the Canaries, is timely and fits well into this problem which has lasted too long, with hotel establishments closed or eternally under construction for years, resulting in a product that is difficult to sell.
Indeed, it is admitted by all local tourist operators, tourism officials and authorities in Agadir that practically more than 45% of hotels are in serious marketing difficulties. This situation of commercial undercapacity harms the destination which suffers from a real handicap due to unsold hotel capacity, thus reducing the seaside offer, requested by interested TOs.
A delegation of professionals and Canarian officials was present in Agadir to participate in the Forum for Canary Islands-Morocco Tourism Modernization. A successful forum for the quality of the interventions and speakers as well as the dynamic participation of both the Moroccan and Canarian parties. This modernization strategy that our Canarian friends have just presented is based on innovation in the renovation of hotel establishments based on a Public / Private partnership. Drawing inspiration from the Canarian experience and expertise by finding appropriate solutions can only be beneficial to the development of the Agadir destination. Hence a repositioning which is necessary on professional bases in a common synergy between the various stakeholders.
It should be noted that the Canaries receive 13 million tourists. If we can already capture 10% of customers to come to Agadir and the region of the great Moroccan south, “this is already an excellent job” said Brahim Hafidi, president of the Souss Massa Draâ Region. Of course this remains a wish because it takes a lot of work on the ground in terms of continuous and effective bilateral cooperation to move forward in this perspective. In fact, the diagnosis of the problem and the handicaps of tourism in Agadir are known to everyone.
It is at the level of solutions that we must act, act well through decentralized cooperation which allows both the exchange of ideas and experiences. The Canarians were in Agadir, for exactly that. Ernesto Yanes, managing director of Proexca, speaks of a “win/win cooperation and the possibilities of sharing the Canarian experience with a friendly people in the tourism and hospitality sector”. These are the appropriate and relevant terms for the situation. It should be remembered that the Souss Masa Draâ Region contains great potential in terms of tourism with products that are both diversified and attractive: seaside, desert, golf, trekking, pleasure, thalassotherapy, hinterland, local products, surfing (the Taghazout spot has just been declared the 3rd spot in the world), rural and ecological tourism… You have to know how to exploit and highlight all of these products with the expertise and know-how required. Hence the creation of an edifying partnership with the Canary Islands which are 500 km from Agadir, but 100 km from a good part of the southern Moroccan coast.
The case of Tenerife is revealing for understanding the success of tourism in the Canary Islands, from which Agadir must draw great inspiration as a seaside destination. Tenerife is an island with a hotel capacity of 130,000 beds. In 2013, the island received 5 million tourists. It records 65% as an occupancy rate. It is linked by direct flights with 62 destinations. Three tourist areas including Puerto de la Cruz (25,000 beds and 30,000 inhabitants), a seaside product with urban tourism, 9 golf courses, six convention centers, 500 tourism companies (SMEs and SMIs), a Teide national park which alone receives 3 million visitors. Tenerife is also a destination that is over 50 years old.
It is in this context that the professionals, elected officials and managers and other operators of the Islands had adopted a Public / Private Renovation convention, since 2007. It is a question of renovating the tourist area and improving the conditions of stay of the visitors with an urban improvement, those of the port areas, green areas, tourist sites etc… To succeed in the operation, a trade club with 170 members was created, for the good involvement of all in the renovation process of 25 hotels and 108 interventions on an urban quality program and in the tourism sector, in general.
It is this great practical and field experience that the Canary Islands came to Agadir to present. The diagnosis and renovation management solution was entrusted to Nosolocamas, an alliance, a platform of companies active in revitalizing the business models of companies in the tourism sector. Nosolocamas has given considerable impetus to the search for new business models, based on innovation and public/private collaboration.
The objective is to provide comprehensive responses, aimed at the re-design of the brand and the theming of tourist accommodation products, as part of the promotional strategy of renewal of destiny. Moreover, a hotel in Agadir in the seaside sector is taken over by Canarian professionals who are renovating it into a charming hotel, completely transformed into suites. We will closely monitor this Canarian intervention which aims to design an appropriate label, following field visits and analyses.
The Agadir Forum is organized, remember, by Nosolocamas in collaboration with the Canarian public entities PROEXCA (Government of the Canary Islands), the Island Council of Tenerife and the airline Binter. Thus present at the Forum were the managing director of Proexca, the Delegated Advisor for External Action, Ms. Carmen Delia Herrera, the president of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, José Lui Garcia, the president of ASHOL (the hoteliers’ association); the representative of the Tenerife Tourist Office Ricardo Martinez Cedres, ex-manager of the Urban Consortium of Puerto de la Cruz and competent executives of Nosolocamas, who had a brilliant presentation of the work of this organization, finally of the forum. The closing of this event was marked by private meetings between Canarian operators and managers and Moroccan operators and professionals, particularly from Agadir. A very successful Forum due to the relevance of the interventions and the quality of the speakers and the scope of the projects to be launched in Agadir for a great renovation of the destination and its tourist products. Not only accommodation infrastructure but also the quality of entertainment and leisure products need to be improved; tourist information; tourist reception (at all levels); professional training. All in a new repositioning of the seaside resort based on well-being with a rich and varied hinterland. The Canarians have just reached out to the gadiris, it is up to them to seize this good opportunity and learn practical lessons and know-how for a revitalization and revaluation of tourism in Agadir.

THR Magazine