More than 3,000 beds lost in Marrakech

Impérial Borj, Kenza, Marrakech, Amin, and other hotels… No less than fifteen accommodation establishments in Marrakech – former jewels of the hotel industry in the 1990s and 2000s – are falling into disrepair today, i.e. nearly 3,000 beds. Some have even become a shelter for the homeless.

One of the reasons behind these closures has to do with poor management of operations. A hotel needs an upgrade every 6 years, but unfortunately a large number of Moroccan establishments only start refurbishment work when they lose stars (from the Ministry of Tourism). Some of these hotels are located at the entrance to the city of Marrakech, the Semlalia district, which housed the first tourist area of Marrakech and others in Guéliz within the Hivernage district. « It is really a shame and detrimental to the destination to see completely abandoned buildings in a tourist city that wants to hold the upper hand, «laments Ahmed Bennani, president of the Regional Association of the hotel industry of the Marrakech – Safi region.

It should be remembered that Marrakech has received from January to the end of June nearly 1.5 million tourists in hotel establishments, which have generated 4.3 million overnight stays. This represents a respective variation of 3% and 7% compared to the same period in 2019. The month of May was exceptional. The city received nearly 270,000 tourists who generated 812,310 overnight stays in Marrakech accommodation establishments, which is an increase of 63% and 51% respectively compared to the same period of 2019, the reference year. The average occupancy rate in hotels and other accommodation establishments exceeded 70% during the month of May. It is also thanks to events that generated a lot of tourists that Marrakech performed well in May, which makes operators say that the region’s tourism growth potential is far from being reached.

Badra BERRISSOULE