The ocher city hosted a meeting this week bringing together professionals from the tourism sector, hoteliers, travel agents, restaurateurs and tourist carriers, to discuss the challenges of the sector and the Awrach program, launched in January 2022 by the government.
Organized by the regional delegation of Tourism in Marrakech, this meeting was devoted to the presentation of the program ” Awrach“, in particular the ” component relating to support and sustainable inclusion which allows the company or the employer to benefit from a subsidy of around 1500 dirhams per month, for a period of 18 months for each employee recruited for a duration of at least 24 months with an income at least equal to the SMIG“.
In a statement to MoroccoLatestNews UKImane Rmeili, President of the Regional Association of Restaurateurs in Marrakech-Safi, welcomed the implementation by the State of aid for hiring.
” This meeting allowed us to have a vision of the eligibility measures that will act as a job booster. Let’s not forget that the tourism sector is the second provider of employment in Morocco. The Awrach program will therefore contribute enormously to this“, she told us.
Several sectors were represented at this meeting, including travel agents, hoteliers, tourist carriers and restaurateurs.
” We are delighted with this meeting which was made with the delegate of tourism to communicate effectively on this program which seems to be very interesting for us, and especially for a good revival of employment in Morocco.“, she added.
Present at this 100% tourist meeting, Zoubir Bouhout, an expert in the field of tourism, told MoroccoLatestNews UK, that the Awrach program aims to assist companies in general, and tourism in particular, to benefit from State support mechanisms.
“It is financial support that will help tourist businesses, in particular hotels, guest houses, tourist carriers, restaurants, to recruit after the wave of layoffs observed during the health crisis due to Covid-19”he revealed.
According to the tourism expert, this recruitment will help companies to support the revival that the sector is currently experiencing, and to project themselves into the future to enable them to return to good performance, without having to bear financial costs, and for the tourism sector to return to pre-pandemic figures.
Speaking of figures, Bouhout estimated that after more than two years of health crisis, the scores recorded, especially for the months of May and June, bode well for a very good performance.
For the month of June, the expert reveals to us that the airports of Morocco were able to recover some 90% of the volume recorded in the same period in 2019. In addition, towards the end of June, there were no less than 3.4 million of visitors who have chosen to come and spend their holidays in Morocco, including a large part of MREs, he said.
Regarding foreign currency earnings, he says they have more than doubled in 2022.
” At the end of June, there was a revenue in foreign currency of more than 28 billion Dhs. If we compare it to the sum of less than 9 billion recorded in 2021, that gives an increase of 206%“, he clarified, noting that there is indeed a real recovery of the sector following the communication campaigns that were carried out by various stakeholders, in particular the ONMT and the RAM“. But this recovery, he lamented, does not benefit all regions of Morocco, especially the southern regions.
Indeed, Zoubir Bouhout explains this lack of attractiveness of the southern provinces by the high temperature, the lack of animation as well as the lack of transport and air connection.
” This is why we find coastal cities that have been able to recover between 60 and 70% of their activity rate recorded during this period in 2019, while a city like Ouarzazate, which is the capital of tourism in the Drâa- Tafilalet, could only recover 23% of its activity rate“, he compared.
Another important phenomenon that still persists, and which needs to be addressed urgently according to the expert, is that of the high prices charged for domestic tourism.
” Moroccans do not have the same means as Europeans who have an income 6 to 7 times, on average, higher. This problem will always exist, as long as two things have not been put in place. First a tourist offer and service stations for Moroccans which take into account their consumption habits and their income, then accompanying measures which are financial assistance given to Moroccan tourists to stay in the country.“, he advocated.
In this respect, the expert evokes the “flight” of Moroccans abroad to spend their holidays, and which translates, according to him, into very significant currency outflows.
” In 2019, Moroccans spent more than 11 billion dirhams in foreign currency on their trips abroad. It is a windfall that is very important. We must therefore find the means to contain it and encourage Moroccans to spend the holidays at home and keep this motto in Morocco.“, he concluded.
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