Press release
Signature of a partnership agreement between the Government and the National Federation of Tourism
02-07-2008

Alongside the strategic intelligence committee which met on June 8, 2009 at the Ministry of Tourism and Handicraft, a partnership agreement has been signed between the Moroccan Government and the private sector (National Federation of Tourism) making it possible to formalize the respective commitments of the Government and the private sector (FNT) undertaken within the framework of the tourism sector's anti-crisis plan.

This convention signed, on the one hand, by Mr Salaheddine Mezouar, Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr Mohamed Boussaid, Minister of Tourism and Handicraft and, on the other hand, by Mr Othman Cherif Alami, President of the FNT, is carried out with a view to responding, in a well concerted way, to the impact of the economic crisis on the tourism sector in Morocco so as to minimize the effects of this global situation and ensure:

• The maintaining of the market shares in the 6 priority markets ( France , Spain , United Kingdom , Italy , Germany and Benelux )
• The maintaining of the growth in terms of arrivals at the frontier posts.

The aim is to take the necessary measures to anticipate the end of the crisis and to be in a position to consolidate our shares in the major tourist generating markets, and to explore new markets identified as growth areas.

Some important measures will be implemented within the framework of this agreement; they intend to support the function of the Moroccan National Office of Tourism (ONMT) by granting an additional allocation of 300 MDH for the Promotion of Morocco destination and the development of air tourist services of the Kingdom.

The Action Plan implemented in consultation with the professionals of the private sector is built around the following axes:

• Strengthening of the institutional communication;
• Launch of the new Azur stations in tourist generating markets: Saidia in June 2009 and Mazagan in October 2009.
• Reinforcement of the communication intended for the nationals.
• Stimulation of the package sales, through innovative promotion actions with Tour Operators.
• Consolidation of the growth dynamics of the air transport sector.
• Putting in place of a specific stimulus plan to support the destination of Marrakech, which represents 35% of the whole overnight stays of 2008.

For their part, the professionals will actively make their contribution to such actions by means of a series of attractive offers and packages intended especially for domestic tourism; they will help develop continuing training for the sake of the staff and maintain employment, while getting adapted to the evolution of the distribution channels in our major markets by increasing their presence on the Net.

Other measures of a structural nature, which aim to anticipate the end of the crisis, will be taken by the State; they concern the implementation of:

• An incentive mechanism for the development of the tourist residential dwelling intended for rent, enhancing the classified bed capacity and making it possible to continue the implementation of the Azur Plan.
• An integrated mechanism to support investment, with a view to accompanying the implementation of tourist projects.
• A financial mechanism to support the renovation of hotel establishments, with a view to supporting the upgrading of the whole hotel units and improving the quality of the Moroccan tourist product.

It should be emphasized that since the beginning of the year, the tourism sector has recorded some satisfactory results, taking into account the scale of the global crisis and compared to other competing destinations .As regards the first 4 months of the year:

• The arrivals at the frontier posts showed a +10% rise with a number of visitors totalling 2.16 million tourists.
• The overnight stays indicated a slight decline of -3%.

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