Morocco’s Tourism Industry Faces Steep Decline as Coronavirus Halts Travel

According to the National Confederation of Tourism (CNT), the sector could suffer a drop of up to 39% in the number of tourists, accompanied by losses estimated at billions of dirhams. In other words, it involves 3,500 tourist accommodation companies, 500 tourist catering companies, 1,450 travel agencies, 1,500 tourist transport companies and 1,500 car rental companies.

In the wake of the suspension of all Royal Air Maroc (RAM) international flights until further notice, the Economic Monitoring Committee (CVE) has put in place a series of measures to preserve as many tourism jobs as possible and assist companies operating in the sector. Also, the kingdom has mobilized to facilitate the repatriation, to their respective countries, of several thousand foreign tourists stranded in the kingdom, by authorizing nearly a hundred special flights.

Among the measures taken by the CNT to help companies in the sector overcome the economic impact of the coronavirus, there is the deferral or cancellation of social security contributions (CNSS and CIMR), but also tax relief (IR, IS and VAT), for the entire period of the crisis. To this are added the deferral of bank maturities for 12 months, the maintenance of credit lines and the opening of loan lines for 12 months with a reduction in the interest rate to 2% over this period. As for the losses in the sector, they are estimated at 34 billion dirhams in the tourism sector by the end of the year, while the hotel sector alone risks recording a deficit of 15 billion.

In addition, some closed hotels have contributed, thanks to the intervention of the president of the Hotel Industry Association of Casablanca and Region (AIH), to making rooms available for the care staff and this, according to the available human and logistical means. In order to support Moroccans stranded abroad, on April 20, the Foreign Exchange Office decided to grant them an exceptional tourist allocation, following the closure of air, sea and land links aimed at limiting the spread of the covid-19 pandemic.