Morocco’s Tourism Industry Faces Uncertainty as Border Closure Continues

The despair of tourism professionals is growing. Some tourism professionals predict that the first half of 2021 is already lost, reports the newspaper Les Inspirations Eco. The new restrictions imposed at the national level for certain destinations are a blow to domestic tourism. "Although nationals have set their sights on some classified accommodation establishments in Agadir to spend their summer holidays, currently, with the resumption of restrictive measures, we are back to square one," explains Najia Ounassar, president of the Agadir Hotel Industry Association (AIHA).

At the international level, Morocco is absent. According to Abarrahim Oummani, a tourism professional and vice-president of Continental Bay, the Morocco destination is currently not featured in any tour operator travel brochures. It will take at least until the 2022 season to recover the trend of 2019, he says. "The instability of the health situation and the continuous increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases extends Morocco’s position on the list of countries affected by travel restrictions by certain European countries," he adds.

To reverse the trend, Lahcen Zelmat, president of the National Federation of the Hotel Industry, indicates the way forward. "The marketing of a vaccine is not for tomorrow. That’s why, like other countries around the Mediterranean, our destination must adapt to this situation with the adoption of precautionary measures to safeguard our tourism fabric," he recommends.