Morocco’s Tourism Minister Faces Backlash for Overseas Travel Amid Flight Ban

Fatim-Zahra Ammor is criticized for her international travels after Morocco suspended all air links. While many Moroccans find themselves stranded abroad, the Minister of Tourism traveled to Madrid with a delegation of 52 people to participate in the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) last Monday.

She stayed for a week in the largest hotels in the Spanish capital, offering a dinner for 500 people in Madrid at the expense of the Moroccan taxpayer. On Thursday, she did not attend the government council when she was supposed to present for approval a decree concerning the exercise of craft trades.

These facts lead tourism professionals to criticize their supervising minister. They describe Fatim-Zahra Ammor’s appointment as a "real casting error," reports Maghreb Intelligence. "While hoteliers and other tourism professionals are on their knees, the minister is multiplying unnecessary trips (Dubai and Madrid) and snubbing operators," denounces a major hotelier in Agadir.