Morocco’s Airport Menace: Fake Porters Harass Travelers, Tarnish Tourism Image

These individuals approach visitors in the parking lots or in the airport terminals to insistently offer their services, before demanding money. This phenomenon, which is growing, has "become almost ordinary for airport users in Morocco, with the Mohammed V International Airport, the largest in the Kingdom, also being affected. Indeed, many ’beggars’, disguised as fake porters, proliferate there, especially in the parking areas, where they present themselves as people ready to help travelers by carrying their luggage," denounces the specialized page Moroccan Aviation in a publication on Facebook.

Travelers blame these fake porters for their insistence that borders on harassment. Despite the refusal of some visitors, these individuals engage in conversation, forcibly retrieve suitcases and sometimes become aggressive if the traveler refuses to pay for this "imposed service". Several cases of these abuses have been reported on social media by Moroccans or tourists who have a very bad memory of it. These fake porters who assault travelers in the parking lots and arrival halls steal the spotlight from the authorized porters, recognizable by their uniform and official badge. The National Airports Office (ONDA) and the local authorities are working to put an end to this anarchy.