Morocco Unveils $1.6 Billion Tourism Recovery Plan Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Tourism professionals hope that the recovery plan to be presented in the Council of Government this Thursday, July 16, 2020 by the minister in charge, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, will live up to their expectations. According to the indiscretions, a kitty of 16 billion DH is announced to support the sector, reports l’Économiste.

The recovery plan, whose objective is to preserve the economic fabric and employment, and to accelerate the resumption of activities in the sector thanks to domestic tourism, plans three phases, specifies the same source.

With a budget of 5.6 billion DH, the first will maintain the 2,000 DH subsidy for all sector players, as well as tax exemptions... The second phase will be used to carry out promotion and animation actions for an amount of 3.2 billion DH. As for the third phase, it will serve to implement long-term projects related to sustainable transformation, digitization, the fight against the informal sector, as well as regulatory and tax reforms.

The tourism sector has been in crisis since 2001, but the Covid-19 crisis, which has led to the closure of borders, the cessation of activities, etc., has worsened the situation, notes the daily, which specifies that the uncertainty regarding the opening of borders would lead to a growth decline in the sector of 10 to 20 years.