The government is still looking for the “magic formula” to give wings to tourist activity. After the study commissioned from BCG to revive the sector and the results of which were delivered in 2017, Mohamed Sajid’s department has just launched two calls for tenders. The first concerns the design and deployment of a system to support and accelerate tourism investments and the second on the establishment of a plan to boost the sector. The ministry has reserved 6.5 million dirhams for these two markets (3.5 million for the first and 3 million for the second). “In order to structure and strengthen the tourism offer, it is now necessary to intensify actions to boost investments through a set of measures which complement and harmoniously enrich existing incentive measures,” says the ministry. The planned study will lead to the design of a system allowing, in the words of the ministry, to relaunch, guide and accelerate tourism investments. “This system in question must be developed and deployed in line with the priorities of the sector and the advanced regionalization process,” underline Mohamed Sajid’s services. For the ministry, investment and financing of tourism projects are “essential and critical” links in the development of the sector in the country. However, he notes, in view of several exogenous and endogenous factors, the investment dynamic in the sector has experienced a significant slowdown in recent years. Result: this decline has had a “significant” impact on the development of a “diversified, quality and competitive” offer. The investment recovery system that the ministry is seeking must provide “pragmatic and realistic” solutions to both existing and planned investments. “This system must make it possible to efficiently guide the efforts of public, central and local authorities and to specify the nature of their support and their intervention according to the maturity of tourist destinations, the nature of the projects and their socio-economic and territorial impacts, and this, by integrating the regional and territorial dimension into all the work,” specifies the ministry in the specification of special requirements. Another clarification: the recovery plan must also integrate all the stages of the investment and operating cycles and offer the tools and support mechanisms adapted for each cycle. The system will include, among other things, a tourism investment code formalizing the new value offer (regulatory, procedural, budgetary, fiscal, etc.), a financing vehicle, dedicated to the sector, making it possible to guide and channel State support for projects both in the investment and operational phases and a guarantee mechanism to encourage and streamline bank financing.
Look for “boosters” over a 4-year horizon
In the file accompanying the call for tenders on the tourism sector boost plan, the ministry draws up approximately the same observation as for the first (investment recovery plan). According to him, the resumption of activity is part of a global context where the sector has experienced certain difficulties in recent years: « even if the destination Morocco has been able to relatively withstand the difficult economic and geopolitical contexts experienced by the Euro-Mediterranean zone, the achievements and performances have remained behind the objectives initially set », he recognizes. In order to consolidate the recovery of the sector, to support and revitalize tourism investments, the ministry claims to have engaged with private partners in a “voluntary and pragmatic approach” to give new dynamism to the sector. The study that the ministry intends to entrust to a firm will have to formalize, he says, on the basis of the documents, data and reflections available, an impulse plan to electrify the activity over a period of 4 years. The plan, intended to remain consistent with the principles of Vision 2020 (which is not a success, it must be admitted), must also integrate the priorities concerning tourism set out in the 2017 government declaration. « The plan must prioritize and break down the action of the Department of Tourism, by structuring projects, into budgeted projects, actions and areas of intervention and dimensions born while specifying responsibilities and deadlines », specify Mohamed Sajid’s services. The implementation plan must be developed using a “consultation approach” taking into account, in particular, the proposals and priorities of the private sector and integrating into the advanced regionalization process. According to the ministry, Morocco recorded a record year in 2017. The country in fact welcomed 11.35 million tourists last year, an increase of 10% compared to 2016. At the end of 2017, the classified bed capacity reached 251,206 beds, an additional 8,499 compared to 2016. 3*, 4*, 5* hotels and club hotels constitute 49% of the total number of classified tourist accommodation. The sector contributes significantly to GDP (7%). It employs more than 530,000 people directly and plays a role in the balance of payments since it accounts for around 20% of exports of goods and services.
source: lematin.ma
