2023-10-31 12:00:44
The Minister of Tourism, Crafts and the Social and Solidarity Economy focused on the dynamics experienced by the tourism sector and the performances achieved in 2023.
The tourism sector has been at the heart of the National Business Council. An opportunity for authorities and employers to share their mutual projects and explore avenues for partnership in tourism, crafts, social and solidarity economy.
Expansion of hotel capacity and expansion of the entertainment offering… These are the main directions taken to establish the positioning of the Morocco destination on the tourist scene. Especially since Morocco is preparing to host major events, hence the challenge of having a modern and attractive tourist infrastructure. In the short term, five new hotels will strengthen Morocco’s hotel capacity. New additional beds are planned for 2024 in Rabat, Casablanca and Agadir. These new openings will consolidate the sector’s vision of welcoming 26 million tourists by 2030. To do this, the authority is currently looking into upgrading existing hotels. Consultations are in their final phase for the establishment of mechanisms through the Mohammed VI Fund for the recovery of closed hotels and the introduction of subordinated debt for renovation. An approach that will allow hotel owners and future investors to quickly deploy their programs. Two regions have been identified for start-up. These are Souss-Massa and Drâa-Tafilalet.
Perimeters which alone capture 30% of tourist establishments in difficulty. Likewise, a project bank will soon be launched allowing tourism investors to benefit, among other things, from investment bonuses and technical support. Likewise, a national program dedicated to tourism businesses is on track. This system, managed by Maroc PME, has a budget of 720 million dirhams for the period 2023-2026. Added to this is also the launch of incubators in digital, Moroccan gastronomy and tourist activities as well as the creation of tourism development companies (SDR) in the 12 regions of Morocco, 9 of which are already operational . This major project opened in the tourism sector was presented in detail during the National Business Council of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) which took place on Monday October 30 in Marrakech. The opportunity being for employers to discuss the issues linked to the development of the tourism and craft sectors, as well as the promotion of the social and solidarity economy, particularly in the regions affected by the September 8 earthquake. With this in mind, Fatim-Zahra-Ammor, Minister of Tourism, Crafts and the Social and Solidarity Economy, focused on the dynamics experienced by the sector and the performances achieved in 2023. We cite in this sense the recovery rate of 115% of arrivals compared to 2019, i.e. 31 points above the world average or the record arrivals reached in September 2023, despite the Al Haouz earthquake which struck the country during this month. “These achievements encourage us to stay the course to achieve our ambitions”, indicates the minister, referring in this sense to the 2023-2026 tourism roadmap which represents a first step towards the 2030 vision. A course which coincides with the co-organization of Morocco in the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal.
“Investment will play a key role in this dynamic. We aim to be as inclusive as possible, by creating the ideal conditions to attract both large investors and SMEs, because we are convinced that we cannot achieve our ambitions without modern and digitalized tourism SMEs, and we know we can count on the support of the CGEM, knowing that 95% of affiliated members are SMEs,” underlines Ms. Ammor. In parallel with the tourism dynamic, the authority is working to modernize the craft sector and to strengthen the competitiveness of stakeholders to increase exports of craft products, through several programs that I will detail in my presentation. Likewise, structuring work is underway. The aim is to provide the country with a framework law which will enable the sustainable and inclusive development of the entire sector. The objective is for the social and solidarity economy to contribute 8% of GDP by 2035 compared to 2% currently.
“We also have a lot of hope for cooperatives, which have a real impact on local communities. So, we are investing massively in the empowerment of members, equipping them with the tools and skills necessary to develop,” concludes the minister. On the CGEM side, the bosses welcomed the rapprochement of visions between them and the tourism department in favor of the rise in power of the entire ecosystem of the sector. In this sense, the members of the CGEM have called for a global, complete, competitive, flexible and integrated offer which takes into account the wealth of each territory. Four priorities are identified within the CGEM including strengthening air connectivity, improving the competitiveness of companies in the sector as well as qualifying human capital and equipping with new reception infrastructures.
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