Hotel establishments were able to count on national tourists last year, in the context of the closure of borders due to Covid-19. Taghazout Bay intends to capitalize on this experience for the next summer season, and expects higher occupancy rates.
Open borders, low number of Covid-19 infections and ongoing preparations for Operation Marhaba 2022… The indicators are good for a resumption of tourist activity in Morocco. While the kingdom expects a significant increase in the number of tourists, especially from abroad, compared to last year, Taghazout Bay is keeping an eye on Moroccan customers.
“Today, for the hotel part, 80% of the station is operational. The Hilton will open this year and the Marriott for next year, which should allow us to complete the hotel part on the seafront,” said Mohammed Cherkaoui Eddeqaqi on Thursday. The Managing Director of the Company for the Development and Promotion of the Taghazout Resort (SAPST) stresses that the seaside resort nestled north of Agadir is attracting more and more Moroccans.
“This year, we are still in the post Covid-19 period. Even last year, the borders were still closed. However, two components of the resort, the Hyatt Regency and the Fairmont opened and we functioned well during the previous summer season, thanks to the local clientele,” he adds.
“We hope to solidify what we gained last year, with a clientele who knew the destination through word of mouth and this year with a Moroccan clientele established abroad who will return and who will surely come to discover the destination. says Zakaria El Ouati, pre-opening general manager of the Hilton Taghazout Bay Beach Resort & SPA. “Last year there was no availability in August. We had to turn down a lot of requests. Despite the two components that opened, the establishments of the station were full,” he recalled.
© Provided by Yabiladi
A Beach club and an Argan Center
Thus, for the next summer season, the manager says he expects “the same occupancy rates or even better than those of last year”, explaining that a “balance” might be created “with the Moroccans who will leave for the ‘foreigner, those who will return to Morocco, in addition to foreign nationals’. “With the new Ryanair flights (to Agadir, editor’s note), we are already feeling a positive impact,” he says.
Taghazout Bay is thus counting on its strengths to refuel during this season. “World famous for the surfing segment, which is thus its first asset”, the resort can also seduce thanks to the “golf” which “attracts a luxury clientele”. “In addition, people want to discover something other than what they saw in Agadir,” continues Zakaria El Ouati. “We weren’t used to receiving customers from Marrakech, Casablanca and Rabat,” he explains, recalling that over the past two years, the station has welcomed many customers from these three cities. “The objective is to capitalize on Moroccan customers in addition to foreign customers,” he concludes.
To do this, the SAPST intends to rely on entertainment, through the opening of the Beach club, scheduled for next July, for an investment of 54 million dirhams. Taghazout will also rely on the Center of Argan, baptized “Targant” and which presents itself as a “new component of animation with a social vocation dedicated to argan”.
Designed by SAPST in collaboration with local cooperatives and focused on promoting local products, the project aims to preserve the natural and cultural heritage linked to the argan tree, enhance its production process, support cooperatives and women in the region and contribute to the creation of local jobs.
