In Morocco, businesses await Israeli tourists as “a source of oxygen”

The direct route between Tel Aviv and Marrakech, suspended after October 7, 2023, resumed in August. Israeli airlines now operate three flights a week, reports N12.

These capacities remain limited, but the first flights are already showing as fully booked, according to Yishai Molad, head of active travel at the Issta Sport group. “We see that there is demand, and we expect it to continue growing,” he explains.

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According to the current flight schedule, up to 20,000 Israelis could travel directly to Morocco by the end of the year. This remains well below the approximately 100,000 visitors recorded annually before the routes were suspended.

Excursions interrupted overnight

This resumption is particularly anticipated by companies that worked with organized groups. Before the flights were halted, an entire network of kosher restaurants, hotels, drivers, guides and 4×4 excursion companies had developed in Morocco.

“Many companies in Morocco are truly waiting for Israeli tourists. They are their source of oxygen,” says Uri Attias, a guide specializing in trips to Morocco for more than thirty years. According to him, some companies organized two to three monthly 4×4 excursions for this clientele before the activity came to an abrupt halt.

The guide, born to Moroccan parents and speaking darija, believes that the welcome given to Israeli travelers has not changed. “They are waiting for organized groups to return,” he says. He himself plans to accompany a new tour in Morocco in April 2027, his first in three and a half years.

The Israeli market had been made a priority by Moroccan tourism professionals after relations between the two countries resumed. The ONMT notably launched a promotional campaign in Israel and brought together hundreds of Israeli tour operators and travel agents in Marrakech.

On Bladi.net : article 80956

The resumption is nevertheless expected to be gradual. With only three direct flights a week, available capacity remains far below what it was before 2023. For Moroccan companies that had invested in this clientele, the first full aircraft are nevertheless the expected sign of a revival.