Morocco’s Tourism Industry Pushes for Border Reopening Amid Global Competition

It is for this reason that the association, chaired by Abdellatif Kabbaj, CEO of the Kenzi Hotels Group, intends to commission a benchmark of Morocco’s main competitors who, for the most part, are preparing to reopen their borders to tourists, possibly equipped with PCR tests or vaccination certificates, informs Africa Intelligence, specifying that these are Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Dubai. This approach follows the one taken in mid-2020, at the end of the first lockdown, and providing information on entry conditions, reopening dates, health requirements in hotels and restaurants, etc.

This benchmark, because "Moroccan hoteliers and tour operators fear that the Kingdom, despite the success of its vaccination campaign, will fall behind its competitors and miss the European clientele’s summer vacation, leading to a second blank year from which they would not recover," explains the media, noting that since the state of health emergency has been extended until at least June 10, the players are without a reference, having no schedule for the resumption of flights from the major source countries, such as France.

In view of the decline in infection cases, officially announced in a press release, the government announced on Thursday an easing of restrictive measures starting this Friday. Thus, the night curfew, in force since late December and strengthened during the month of Ramadan, will be in effect from 11:00 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. starting this Friday, compared to 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. until now. Businesses, restaurants and cafes are allowed to open until 11:00 p.m., compared to 8:00 p.m. previously. This is not the case for parties, gatherings, demonstrations and funerals which remain prohibited and cinemas remain closed.

The national vaccination campaign, launched at the end of January, has allowed more than 7.2 million Moroccans to receive the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and 4.7 million of them have received the second dose, the publication recalls.