Tourism receipts amounted to 9.7 billion dirhams (MMDH) at the end of March 2022, up 80% compared to the same period of the past year, indicated on Monday the Minister of Tourism, crafts and the social and solidarity economy, Fatim-Zahra Ammor.
This development confirms a recovery in the sector, noted Ms. Ammor in answering an oral question in the House of Representatives on “the measures taken in favor of the tourism sector”, presented by the Istiqlalian group of unity and egalitarianism. , adding that handicraft exports increased by 25%.
Ms. Ammor also highlighted the various measures taken to relaunch the sector, in particular the launch of an emergency plan of 2 billion dirhams, the payment of the lump sum indemnity of 2,000 dirhams, before Aid Al Fitr, for all employees in the sector, tourist carriers and classified restaurants and the postponement of the repayment of bank credit maturities.
Similarly, the ministry received 781 requests for the renovation of hotel establishments, also recalling the deployment of a major and marketing campaign to revive the sector, with the aim of doubling the number of arrivals by 2030.
In response to another question relating to tourism investment, Ms. Ammor indicated that her department has reoriented the interventions of the Moroccan Society for Tourism Engineering (SMIT) towards tourism investments that better meet the requirements of tourists, by exploiting a study carried out by the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) on the expectations of Moroccan and foreign tourists.
Among the major programs aimed at encouraging investment, the Minister cited incentive grants for the creation of small and medium-sized enterprises in the tourism sector and financial support from the State, with an overall envelope of 1 billion dirhams, for the renovation of tourist accommodation establishments.