Morocco’s Tourism Transport Sector Faces Job Losses Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Rachid Bouamara, the delegated president of the FNTT in his diagnosis of the situation, indicated that tourist transport was the first sector to be hit hard by the crisis, reports Aujourd’hui le Maroc. As early as January, the sector recorded successive cancellations and a total shutdown since early March 2020. Medium and very small businesses are the most affected by the consequences of covid-19. As a result, many jobs are now threatened with disappearance, he said. The losses in turnover are considerable due to the total cessation of activity. The virus has devastated the tourist transport sector. The value added of transport would have been impacted, with a loss of 0.7 points in terms of growth during the first quarter of 2020, according to the latest economic note from the High Commission for Planning (HCP).

Regarding the recovery, the delegated president of the FNTT said that if the pandemic is brought under control, 65% of the players think that the recovery would take between 12 and 24 months. He believes that the sector urgently needs a rescue plan to avoid bankruptcy, which will lead to job losses. Tourist transport is a sector that has 1,450 companies and employs 9,425 people.

To establish a sustainable working process in the short and medium term, the FNTT has proposed the implementation of a 2020-2025 progress contract. A proposal that Rachid Bouamara adheres to. He indicated that it is a matter of legal measures concerning technical and procedural modifications to be made to the specifications governing the activity, as well as fiscal and banking measures.

The objective of this progress contract is to consolidate the foundations of the sector to give it the means to develop and recover from the crisis. For the resumption of the sector’s activities, Rachid Bouamara said that the FNTT is in expectation. He notes the lack of communication and appropriate clarification on the conditions for resuming activities from the administrations.