Tourism: The very first signs of recovery

On the eve of the summer sea­son, there is a general mobili­zation of the entire ecosystem of the tourist industry. Indeed, after two years almost at a standstill, the tourism industry is about to make a new start. And to get off to a good start, one of the very first positive signs will have been the easing of access procedures to Morocco, which took place last Tuesday, May 17 in the evening, by offering tourists the choice between the vaccination passport and the PCR test. One day after the removal of the PCR test lock, Fatim-Zahra Ammor, minister of Tourism, Handicrafts, So­cial and Solidarity Economy, took part in the Club de L’ Economiste meeting. Without hesitation or demagogy, the minister, from the RNI party, delive­red an exhaustive analysis concerning the levers for accelerating Morocco as a destination, the priority actions to re­build the market, the catalysts via tour operators (TO), the accommodation establishments, and the air transport, in order to multiply the flow of tourist arrivals. “Certainly, the tourism sector will have been the most impacted by the health crisis. But today, the first signs of recovery are there”, immediately said the line minister. Indeed, according to Fatim-Zahra Ammor, since February 7, date of the opening of the borders and of the easing of health restrictions, the very first progressive signs of reco­very have been recorded in a context of improvement in the epidemiologi­cal situation and against a backdrop of sharp decline in the progression of the virus and of the contagions. With sup­porting evidence, the line ministry has identified 1.4 million tourists at border posts and 2.9 million overnight stays. In terms of revenues, the Morocco destination collected no less than 9.7 billion MAD (about US$ 97 million), “which represents more than 80% compared to the same period in 2021,” notes the minister. One thing is certain, the recovery is definitely here. Moreo­ver, it is confirmed almost everywhere. And it’s a global trend that the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has also just confirmed. That being said, the reference year remains 2019, since it predates the health crisis. Precisely, at constant scope compared to the refe­rence year (2019), the sector generated barely 60% of the revenues. Despite considerable losses, optimism remains prevalent, given the harbingers of reco­very which are increasingly confirmed. “We are quite confident of a return to 2019 flows by summer. We have carried out substantive work with the National Tourist Office (ONMT) to secure a cer­tain number of seats. We are talking about more than 4.25 million secure seats for this summer season! There are 300,000 tourists registered with traditional TOs and 2 million overnight stays with online TOs. This means that we are convinced that next summer will see things happen,” said the minister. The goal of the line ministry and of tourism professionals is to increase the number of tourists and arrivals in order to be able to return, from the beginning of 2023, to the performance levels achieved in 2019.

Amin RBOUB