Marrakech Tourism Stakeholders Push for On-Arrival COVID Testing to Boost Visitor Numbers

The resumption of tourism in the ochre city has become a national concern. The competent authorities and especially the tourism stakeholders are now more confident about this relaunch since the arrival in Marrakech of 160 French tourists.

Due to the difficult entry conditions into Morocco, the French Union of Tour Operators (SETO) has written to Royal Air Maroc to facilitate the resumption of domestic tourism in France.

In this regard, SETO has argued that travelers should be exempted from presenting the PCR test on departure, only on arrival. "The condition of having to present a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours at boarding is de facto a heavy handicap, especially for travelers from France, since the turnaround time for test results exceeds 72 hours," SETO specified.

According to Mustapha Amalik, a hotelier in the ochre city, Marrakech has a rich and varied tourism potential and hotel complexes capable of positioning it in the tourism of large spaces and ecotourism.