Morocco Unveils New Regulations to Upgrade Hotel and Tourism Standards

This draft decree, which is the second implementing decree of Law No. 80-14 relating to the classification of tourist establishments and other forms of tourist accommodation, aims in particular to evaluate and classify the different types of tourist accommodation (real estate tourist promotion residences, accommodation with the inhabitant, bivouacs, alternative accommodation, tourist restaurants), report Les Inspirations Eco.

The text provides, among other things, for the obtaining of an operating license before the opening of any tourist accommodation establishment, "issued by the competent authority after consultation with the unified regional investment committee." "This license will be based on the opinions of the services concerned in their areas of competence, as well as on the provisional classification issued by the regional or provincial representative of the government authority responsible for tourism, after consultation with the unified regional investment committee," specifies the same source.

A new methodology will be adopted for the classification of these establishments in order to ensure the quality of the services provided there. This work will be entrusted to a regional classification commission which will have the heavy task of verifying the compliance of the establishments with the technical, functional, production and service quality standards, based on the mandatory and complementary criteria, developed in collaboration with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

The establishments will also be subject to a secret inspection carried out by a specialized inspector who will be appointed by the Ministry of Tourism in order to ensure the quality of the services provided. The draft decree also provides for the supervision, renewal of the classification and granting of licenses for the operation of tourist real estate residences and the classification of tourist restaurants, after the opinion of the unified regional investment committee.