Tangier Tourist Guides Face Uncertain Future as Border Closures Continue

"With the continued closure of borders, we have no visibility on the return to our activity, which seems to have a long way to go before it can be realized. We are suffering, like the other sectors of hotels, restaurants..., the consequences of the cessation of our activities long before the entry into force of the health confinement. We will be even more weakened in a sector that is not always organized and structured," said Abdelhamid Ben Amar, deputy secretary general of the Regional Association of Tourist Guides (ARGT) of Tangier, to Aujourd’hui le Maroc.

According to him, it is clear that the guides of Tangier will not be able to regain their financial health anytime soon. As the seasons go by without them being able to seize the opportunities, especially the Semana Santa (Easter holidays) which allows them to increase their turnover. "Unlike foreign tourists, the majority of Moroccans do not have this culture of guided tours to the various historical and tourist sites. We must therefore continue to fend for ourselves, as we did during the confinement, thanks to our savings or by helping each other to be able to get out of it," says Ben Amar.

And to add: "this very difficult period that we are going through has led us to think about increasing our contributions within our association in order to be able to cope with any future crises that may arise".