Agadir-Souss Massa Tourism Industry Poised for Recovery After COVID-19 Shutdown

With the closure of land and air borders in order to curb the spread of Covid-19, tourism activity in the Souss - Massa has been severely affected. "This situation has also affected thousands of jobs, despite the measures taken by the government to support tourism companies including hotels, travel agencies, transport, restaurants and leisure spaces, as well as the craft sector," laments the President of the Regional Tourism Council (CRT) of Agadir-Souss Massa, Rachid Dahmaz, in an interview with MAP.

Despite this difficult situation, a glimmer of hope is emerging on the horizon. Thus, "thanks to the successful vaccination campaign carried out in Morocco against Covid-19, as well as the decline in cases of contamination, we hope to achieve a resumption of economic and tourism activity by next summer and the CRT will continue its action and its approaches focused in particular on the organization of promotional campaigns for the destination of Agadir-Souss Massa which is betting on domestic tourism to relaunch the sector," said Dahmaz.

Last July, during its board of directors meeting, the CRT of Agadir-Souss Massa expressed its support for the tourism sector and operators in the region through support in the implementation of its action plan, in order to prepare the destination for the post-Covid-19 period. In addition, the Souss Massa Tourism Development Company (SDR) set up a call for expressions of interest in December last year for owners and managers of Agadir hotels wishing to benefit from the grant for the renovation and upgrading of the hotel park.

The Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) visited Agadir in January 2021, with the aim of setting up a regional recovery plan in terms of promotion, in agreement with tourism professionals and the heads of the Regional Tourism Councils, in order to restore the luster of the tourism sector in Agadir and Morocco in general.