Cruise tourism: A promising season from September onwards!
All the harbingers of a strong recovery in cruise tourism are there. “Seasonality is looking good. Better still, everything leads us to believe that 2023 will be an exceptional year”, announces Jalil Madih, CEO of the Alizés Travel agency, who is also a member of the Club Croisière Maroc.
According to this professional, the season starts in September and continues until the end of December. Then there is a dip throughout January. Afterwards, the cruise activity resumes from March-April until late May or early June. This renewed interest of cruise passengers and cruise ships for Morocco is mainly due to the brand-new terminal in Tangiers or to the brand-new terminal in the port of Casablanca, which is supposed to be operational next December, explains Jalil Madih. Another argument put forward is that “Morocco has always been a great destination for cruises. Admittedly, the conditions in which tourists were received and infrastructures were deplorable a few years ago, but today practically all the conditions are met to reconnect with this demanding clientele. It is still necessary to have clear conditions for the process, the mobilization of local authorities to ensure speed and safety, hygiene, the environment, and other requirements…”, warns this cruise specialist. “The challenge today is to make the process of the arrival of liners as paperless as possible, to streamline the administrative procedures, and to lighten the procedures (Customs, police, etc.)”, insists Madih. A priori, if all goes as planned, professionals are counting on a return to the performance of 2014 and 2015 in 2023, that is to say some 470,000 cruise tourist arrivals. “At the Alizés Travel agency, we are counting on the stopover of a hundred liners”, specifies Jalil Madih. It should be noted that the goal of Morocco as a destination is to reach one million cruise passengers by 2030. On a global scale, cruise activity attracts on average between 30 and 35 million tourists, and it is the port of Barcelona that steals the show . “This city is the flagship destination par excellence for customers. An essential harbor”, confirms Jalil Madih. One thing is certain, cruise tourism is the only industry that ensures double-digit growth, every year. This means that Morocco has a real potential to make the most of!
Amin RBOUB
