Marrakech Plans Ambitious Recovery to Revive Tourism After COVID-19 Crisis

The city of Marrakech is one of the cities that have been hit hard by the pandemic of the new coronavirus. It is to work on regaining its former glory that the authorities of the city and all the institutional stakeholders and actors as well as civil society have been at work for a few weeks now, in order to anticipate all the possible scenarios, to manage the post-confinement period as best as possible. It will take time and a battery of proactive measures, in terms of social distancing, health safety and management of public spaces and mobility, during the post-covid-19 period, reports the MAP.

Deconfinement, according to the opinions of specialists, experts, and the various parties concerned, "will have to be done gradually". This is why the Wilaya of the Marrakech-Safi Region has triggered "a dynamic to federate energies and engage in a collective and structured reflection within the framework of a constructive debate". It will be a question of addressing not only "the specificities and problems of the current situation", but also "the prospective aspect", with its constraints and challenges that require the search for creative and innovative solutions to better adapt to the post-covid-19 period.

Thus, to allow consultation between all the actors concerned by the modalities of the period after confinement, a "Marrakech post Covid-19" Forum has been launched and plans a series of panels and workshops for reflection and exchange. According to Karim Kassi-Lahlou, the Wali of the region, it will be through this forum to "channel all interventions according to a unified strategy, based on three essential axes". In detail, he explained that the first axis is based on "protection, prevention and health safety", while the second concerns "the revival of economic and social sectors with a view to ensuring a new takeoff". As for the third axis, it focuses on "innovation through the development of new solutions and intervention tools".

After organizing four interactive online workshops on various themes aimed at surveying the field in search of solutions and strategies that can help restore the city’s former clarity, both economically and touristically, a first videoconference was initiated under the theme "What public spaces after deconfinement? Thinking about deconfinement through an intelligent use of public spaces". A virtual meeting during which officials, institutional actors, academics and experts in the fields of urban planning, education and training, health, tourism, architecture and housing, provided "cross-cutting and prospective perspectives on the use and management of public spaces in the ochre city after the end of confinement," says the MAP.

The participants in this first webinar, in their recommendations, emphasized the importance of "implementing a new concept regarding the modalities of use of public spaces, in order to guarantee the safety of all, while respecting the preventive measures after deconfinement". They also suggested "the temporary prohibition of the use of public spaces for commercial and economic activities, awareness-raising and awareness-raising on the need to respect health precautions and the preservation of public spaces".

By initiating such a dialogue between the actors concerned on the crucial issue of deconfinement and the mechanisms of proactive intervention, the authorities expect to have all the necessary tools for the management of a gradual but effective deconfinement.