Assistance to the hotel industry: Marrakech grabs the lion’s share
The first assistance to hoteliers should arrive next May, and Marrakech grabs the lion’s share. Indeed, out of the 495 applications submitted so far, 187 come from the Marrakech/Safi region, namely 38% of the overall assistance. Nothing more normal: Marrakesh represents 40% of Morocco’s hotel bed capacity with 80,000 beds, and some hotels are still closed as a result of the health crisis.
The Government´s support could help hotel managers undertake repair work to prepare for reopening. In any case, nearly 500 applications are being processed, but the Ministry of Tourism and especially the director of the SMIT (Moroccan Corporation for Tourism Engineering), responsible for granting this assistance, had promised to provide a quick answer to the applications. Theoretically, the applications which were submitted to the SMIT last March should be satisfied in May, in particular for establishments whose applications are in compliance with the requirements. It should be noted that the evaluations of the applications will be made according to the turnover of the hotel, the number of jobs, in addition to the investment and offering improvement project. To benefit from the Government´s support, hotels and other accommodation units must also undertake not to pay dividends for 2021/2022/2023. The request for support that must be issued by the hotel units must therefore relate to service or quality improvement projects, without however exceeding 10% of the turnover achieved for the 2019 financial year with a ceiling of 10 million MAD. “The methodology and the approach for implementing this measure of financial support from the Government for Tourist accommodation establishments (EHTs) have been agreed in close consultation with the parties concerned, namely the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the professionals”, says the tourism department. The goal is to support the investment effort of accommodation establishments wishing to prepare for a rapid restart of activity. As a reminder, the Government has granted an emergency plan to the tourism sector of 2 billion MAD, one of which is dedicated to accommodation establishments wishing to prepare for a rapid restart of activity. 80% of the overall budget is dedicated to improving the quality of the offering and 20% for the quality of service.
Badra BERRISSOULE
