Morocco’s Wedding Industry Struggles Amid COVID-19 Shutdown

In a statement to the MAP, the secretary general of the Moroccan federation of caterers, Hassan Douch, explained that the "family" event sector is an "industry lacking in nomenclature", victim of a sudden and total shutdown. Yet this sector is a source of creation of millions of jobs. According to Mr. Douch, the formal and informal professions are severely affected by the health crisis.

The field of wedding ceremonies in Morocco is based on a chain of very complex and interdependent "small trades" whose prosperity depends on one another, explained Mounia Benjelloun for her part, the manager of a company specializing in the organization of weddings. According to this wedding planner, the celebration of a single wedding brings in a lot of money to more than fifty people, related near or far to this event.

This total shutdown, since March 14, has affected the entire sector, which generally operates in the informal and seasonal sectors, she detailed. The majority of clients "cannot celebrate the wedding without having their close and distant family members by their side," added Sahar El Maazouzi, communication manager of a wedding planning agency and also manager of a caftan boutique.

Our peers have started reselling their equipment to meet the persistent expenses, she said, adding that only the diversification of services has allowed some to mitigate the shock, while others are facing losses.

Faced with the situation, professionals in the sector are calling for a "timid" relaunch of the activity in strict compliance with the health measures enacted to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the kingdom.