Tourism, a pillar of the regional economy, is now experiencing a resurgence following suffering the fallout from the health crisis.
Call for projects : The selected projects will be known at the end of May. The support plan will start at the beginning of June and end next September. A new call for projects will be launched at the beginning of this summer.
The tourist offer in the city of Agadir and its region is in the process of diversifying. The call for projects of the Regional Development Company of the very small, small and medium-sized tourism enterprises Souss-Massa (SDR TPME Touristiques SM), launched last January, recorded a high rate of applications. A number of 1,190 files were registered, of which 294 projects were validated. This is what emerges from an analysis of the applications received at the SDR TPME Touristiques SM. It appears from the applications that out of the 294 validated files, 216 are business creations and 77 relate to the transformation of existing VSME activities. Geographically, the prefecture of Agadir Ida Outanane and the province of Taroudant carve out the lion’s share in terms of business creation. At the sector level, entertainment and leisure are the niches that bring together the most candidates. They represent 41.6% of the projects. Regarding the age group of candidates, 85% of business creators are under 45 years old and more than 40% are under 35 years old. The new generation is thus betting on entrepreneurship following an academic career for more than the majority of candidates. Over 70% have bachelor’s or graduate degrees.
Remember that this support program for tourism VSMEs is aimed at new project leaders as well as existing VSMEs who wish to carry out an operation to transform their activity. And this, for the upgrading of their structure and the improvement of their competitiveness to achieve operational excellence. All categories combined, the sectors of tourist accommodation, travel agency, entertainment and leisure, sport and well-being, tourist catering, tourist guide and tourist transport, are the activities concerned.
Initiated within the framework of a partnership between the department in charge of tourism, the wilaya of the Souss-Massa Region, the Souss-Massa regional council, the Moroccan Society of Tourism Engineering (SMIT) and the Chamber of Commerce, industry and services Souss-Massa (CCIS SM), the program is run by the SDR TPME Touristiques Souss-Massa. The entity born in 2022 aims to breathe new life into the tourism sector, a pillar of the regional economy which is now experiencing a resurgence following suffering the fallout from the health crisis.
After this first edition, this support program should result in a second call for projects at the end of next June, which would close at the end of September. In the meantime, the current call for projects will enter following its selection phase in the implementation of its support plan at the beginning of next June to end next September.