Agadir Restaurants Face Closure as New COVID Restrictions Hit Tourism Sector

The tourism professionals in Agadir, particularly the restaurateurs, are in shock. In this very difficult context for the sector, the strengthening of the restrictive measures announced on December 21 by the government has dashed all their hopes, reports Les Inspirations Eco, specifying that it is essentially the independent restaurants that are affected by this new measure of total closure for a period of 21 days. The professionals located inside the hotels, on the other hand, are authorized to serve the resident clients before 8 p.m.

"This decision will be fatal for the sector, which is already having great difficulty recovering from this crisis, with the absence of foreign tourists, but also of Moroccans," laments Karim Zahir, president of the Regional Association of Tourist Restaurateurs in Agadir. And many operators, following him, express their indignation: "Why have tourist establishments, cafes, snacks been excluded from this decision, knowing that the same health concerns cover all segments, when we could all close at the same time, while respecting the preventive measures."

Also, notes the media, the Regional Association of Tourist Restaurateurs in Agadir is calling for the intervention of the National Federation of Restaurateurs, at the same time as its members are calling for the activation of the other measures included in the tourism program contract, but also for a tax amnesty in favor of tourism companies on local taxes to save the tourism structures.

For Najia Ounassar, president of the Agadir Hotel Industry Association, "the only hope is to overcome this health crisis thanks to the vaccination operation, with a recovery in the spring, either in March or April."