The tourism sector in Morocco will complete three months of shutdown and since the proposals of the National Tourism Confederation and with the exception of the economic recovery scenario proposed by the CGEM to the CVE, the sector will continue to sail on sight. Before the relaunch, an emergency plan is needed to save the Morocco supply.
In decline for several years due to lack of competitiveness, diversification of the tourist offer and the absence of a real vision, the Moroccan tourism sector would have received a massive blow with this pandemic. As evidenced by the latest data relating to the sector communicated by public authorities: drop of 15% in tourist revenue for the first four months of 2020 and 61% for the month of April alone. The survey conducted by the CGEM among companies reveals a drop of 71.41% in turnover and 78.18% in jobs.
For a sector which accounts for around 11,000 companies and has nearly 122,000 jobs, the conditions for a recovery are far from being met.
Almost two months since the sector came to a standstill due to the state of health emergency and the suspension of air connections, professionals in the ecosystem will have to wait a few more weeks since, according to the announcements made by the Ministry of Finance before the first chamber. The overall recovery plan must take into consideration the specificities of each sector.
The recovery project proposed by the CGEM to the CVE is based on 508 measures formulated by 25 federations including the national tourism confederation.
Among the measures proposed to save the sector and prepare it for recovery, we can cite the authorization of a delayed payment at the end of the year (deadlines to be extended if necessary) of tourist and tourist promotion taxes for the first quarter, the payment of which falls due at the end of April or even the acceleration of the reimbursement of VAT credits linked to investment.
Professionals of a completely different opinion
According to a professional, the Morocco offer is based on an entire ecosystem whose weak links have not been able to benefit from any assistance among the battery of measures dictated by the CVE due to the eligibility conditions which would have to be reviewed.
“The most basic case is that of passenger car rental, for example, which has 3,000 companies for 12,000 jobs. This activity is not affected by the temporary shutdown for health reasons, but its companies are threatened with financial asphyxiation and their employees cannot claim financial compensation.
For businesses, the few measures such as the deferral of social security contributions are not sufficient to safeguard the sustainability of jobs and activities. The damage to one of the links in the production chain threatens Morocco’s supply as a whole. Now that we are being told about a plan, excuse us but actors have a terrible history with plans and visions. We’ll see. »
Professionals are unanimous that more than a recovery plan, emergency measures are imperative to save the ecosystem from bankruptcy and find “what” to revive. “The authorities can draw inspiration from the proposals of the CNT, the CGEM and even other countries like Italy which was on its knees due to the pandemic and yet put the tourism sector at the head of its recovery priorities.
This sector is all the more vital than others because it is a large employer, allows rapid retraining and recruits profiles as different as they are diverse, particularly young people, the main population suffering from unemployment.
The sector is also one of the main providers of foreign currency, especially now that Morocco’s global trades are on standby. »
And a sector which, in addition to endogenous factors, will have to face exogenous factors such as the closure of borders or the fierce competitiveness that is expected between different post-Covid-19 destinations.
The methodology singled out
For this hotel professional, the approach taken at the start of this health crisis somewhat worried players, particularly small and medium-sized ones, about seeing themselves excluded from ongoing discussions to get the sector out of unprecedented paralysis.
“The silence of the supervisory authority at the start of the pandemic undermined the morale of professionals who needed the channel of communication to be permanently open with the minister. Indeed, the choice that all decisions are made through the CVE, where the CGEM sits as spokesperson for the different economic sectors, does not exempt the supervision of its role vis-à-vis the operators.
Particularly communicate data and information to help make thoughtful and documented decisions in a delicate context. While he welcomes Bill 30-20, proposing special provisions for travel contracts, he believes the sector needs much more.
The domestic market, an eternal spare wheel?
With the cascading effects of Covid-19 on national purchasing power, it is appropriate to ask ourselves who will think about going on vacation, especially since the health risk still persists. The Minister of Finance measured the effects linked to Covid-19 at 1 billion DH per day and between 5 and 7 points of GDP lost in two months of confinement.
To motivate domestic tourists, the CNT has proposed a range of initiatives ranging from the multiplication of internal air connections to the establishment of packaged offers… Without wanting to be defeatist, our professional emphasizes that what the sector has not achieved for decades is difficult to achieve, particularly under the constraints of the health crisis and the state of emergency.
“Causing a disruption in constraint is this realistic? The national tourist has long been « downgraded » by national tourist operators, while the diversification of markets and offers is a basic thing. This crisis proves that you should not put all your eggs in one basket,” regrets our source.
“In the immediate future, we remain hopeful that the health crisis will be contained in Morocco so that we can dare to hope for a semblance of a resumption of activity in August accompanied by the health label and security measures. But tourism is a long cycle and that is why support and recovery measures must extend at least until 2021, while waiting for the global market to recover,” explains our source.
Suffice it to say that the sector will face even more difficult days if urgent measures are not taken immediately to save the tourism industry.
source:ecoactu.ma
