Film Industry in Ouarzazate Stalls as Hotel Closures Threaten Tourism and Jobs

"When we talk about filming movies, we talk about hotels," said Abderrahman Drissi during a meeting of the thematic commission on tourism in the House of Advisors, stating that the closure of several hotels is the reason for the blocking of the realization of five international films in Ouarzazate. A loss for tourism activity. He will explain that the film industry increases the number of hotel nights and provides jobs for many extras and technicians. Moreover, the filming of any foreign film requires at least three months, and leads to filling 50 to 60% of the hotels. To support his remarks, the member of the Haraki Group assures that all the hotels in Ouarzazate were booked during the filming of "Gladiator 2". "I challenge anyone to promote Morocco as a tourist destination as the film Gladiator, which was filmed in Ouarzazate, has done," he said.

Convinced of the impact of the film industry on tourism, Drissi asked the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication to follow the example of Jordan by accelerating the authorization procedure for the filming of foreign films in the "Hollywood of Africa", the nickname given to Ouarzazate, a flagship destination for producers and filmmakers around the world. According to his explanations, the delay in authorizations pushes directors to choose other countries for filming.

Regarding the explosion that occurred on the set of the film "Gladiator 2", the former president of the commune of Ouarzazate indicated that the presence of Minister Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid on the site of the incident "was important, because the director of the film Ridley Scott was considering leaving the city and changing the filming location". According to Drissi, this departure would have been a blow to the film industry in the region.