Slight consolation for Moroccan hoteliers. After the end-of-year celebrations and their usual boosting effect on tourist activity, particularly in Marrakech, 2023 is starting on a bad note. Moroccan authorities have decided to close the borders to travelers coming from China. This decision came into force on January 3, 2023; it is justified by the explosion of cases of Covid-19 contamination in China. The end of the “zero Covid” policy decided by the Chinese authorities has caused a very significant increase in cases of contamination, pushing several countries to take restrictive measures towards the Chinese. Exceptional measure “In light of the evolving situation and regular contacts with China and in order to avoid a new wave of contamination in Morocco, the authorities have decided to prohibit access to the territory of the Kingdom to all travelers, regardless of their nationality, coming from China. This exceptional measure in no way tarnishes the sincere friendship between the two peoples and the strategic partnership between the two countries, to which the Kingdom remains strongly attached,” indicates the press release from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If this decision “in no way affects” the strategic relations between the two countries, it will undoubtedly have an impact on the activity of several Moroccan tourist operators. “I had to cancel several reservations for Chinese tourists who were due to arrive at the end of January; one of them concerned a group of thirty travelers. This is a huge shortfall, especially during this period when we do not have visibility,” a tourist operator from the ocher city told Arab News in French. We make good revenues with this clientele and we regret this decision which will have consequences at the start of the year. Mohamed Bamansour Like him, many have had to adapt to this restrictive decision which will necessarily affect the Kingdom’s tourism revenue, Chinese tourists being one of the biggest spenders. In Morocco, they are considered very good customers for hoteliers, restaurateurs and traders. While they amounted to just ten thousand in 2015, arrivals of Chinese tourists are now close to one hundred and fifty thousand. A figure that Morocco intends to multiply by five in the medium term. “Tourist carriers have poorly received this restriction on Chinese tourists. We make good revenues with this clientele and we regret this decision which will have consequences at the start of the year,” confides, not without bitterness, Mohamed Bamansour, secretary general of the National Federation of Tourist Transporters. Radical option If Morocco has chosen this radical option, it is also due to the lack of transparency of the Chinese authorities, who do not communicate enough on the evolution of the pandemic. This situation has reportedly changed since several countries adopted similar restrictive measures. This is evidenced by this interview on January 14 between Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Minister Ma Xiaowei, Director of the National Health Commission in China. “WHO welcomes this meeting and the public communication of information on the overall situation. It is in the process of analyzing this information which covers the period from the beginning of December 2022 to January 12, 2023 and which allows us to better understand the epidemiological situation and the repercussions of this wave in China,” the UN organization said in a press release.
source: arabnews.fr
