The resumption of tourist activity in Morocco will still have to wait. In the opinion of two public and private operators, the much-hoped-for restart for next summer could be extended until 2023. The discovery of a new variant of Covid-19 in Europe will have worsened the health situation.
The appearance of the new strain of coronavirus has buried any hope of short-term recovery among operators who are seeing their dreams slip away. Consequently, no more foreign tourists have set foot on the kingdom’s territory since the tightening of conditions imposed on European travelers due to the outbreak of this new variant of the pandemic, notes Médias24.com. Even the small glimmer of hope aroused by the vaccination campaign among operators has faded.
To convince themselves, the media interviewed two professionals. According to one of them, who is a source close to the Ministry of Tourism, the slight tremor observed in Marrakech and Agadir in December was completely wiped out by recent European restrictions due to the appearance of the new, more dangerous and more contagious strain of the virus. This situation has strongly penalized receiving countries including Morocco, which have suffered a new disaffection from foreign visitors « after the alert note from the Quai d’Orsay, the quarantine in France and the closure of the English and German markets. »
However, he recognizes, the sector will try “without much hope” to bounce back in March or April, despite the current period which does not present any major economic challenges. Far from claiming a reversal of the current situation, operators prefer to prepare the « best conditions for a possible recovery in the spring », he underlines. While waiting for summer, they will “focus on spring vacation, even if from a health point of view, things are not looking good for this period,” he observes.
By excluding any resumption for the months of March or April and focusing instead on June or July, this sector professional specifies that the prerequisite for this resumption consists of ensuring the smooth running of the vaccination campaign in the source markets and of course in Morocco. “In this way, if things go well and customer confidence returns, we will have better conditions to start working again,” he says, assuring that he has a lot of “hope on the summer but all our recovery hypotheses are based on the end of the vaccination campaign.”
Commenting on the delay in the vaccination campaign in Morocco which has already seen several postponements, he believes that this will not prevent foreign arrivals. “Knowing that Morocco should soon receive its vaccines, it will be able to quickly welcome visitors because even countries that started their campaign very early are not yet ready,” he clarifies, relying on the current growth in domestic tourism which, according to him, will support the sector while waiting for the return of foreign arrivals. To this end, he welcomes the numerous domestic arrivals in Ifrane, Dakhla and other cities. To conclude, he affirms that a real resumption of activity is subject to collective immunity, which could last until the last quarter of 2021.
source: bladi.net
