It is certainly a long time since foreign tourists flocked to the old medina to discover its historic houses, its medersas, its Koranic schools, its mausoleums, its splendid Borjs and its picturesque walls.
And for good reason. The coronavirus pandemic, which has limited travel and travel since 2020, has taken its toll on the tourism sector and its local dynamics, like other national and international destinations.
However, tourist operators approached by MAP say they prefer to see the glass half full. Professionals and various parties directly or indirectly affected by the performance of the Idrisside city sector, whose tourist nights in classified accommodation establishments had seen promising performances before the outbreak of the pandemic, are working hard to find its usual frequentation and its tourist animation of yesteryear.
Hard hit by the epidemic during the summer 2020 season, not to say hit hard by the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, the tourism sector has started to regain color in recent months, particularly in favor of high directives royal laws aimed at simplifying the return of Moroccans from around the world to the mother country, preferential prices, the establishment of new maritime and air lines, the relaxation of preventive measures and the acceleration of the vaccine operation.
The revival of the local tourism sector should be largely supported by the ambition of the Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT), “to put Fez and Meknes on the starting blocks of the recovery”, as well as by the completion of 17 projects. with a total cost of DH 894 million across the city of Fez.
Also many initiatives have been set up at the national level to revitalize the tourism sector and strengthen national mobility and the attractiveness of tourist regions of Morocco to nationals and Moroccans around the world, and allow professionals to see breakthrough.
This involves, among others, the signing of the framework partnership agreement between the National Railways Office (ONCF) and the Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT) intended to strengthen collaboration in the service of mobility and internal tourism; and the launch of the “Ntla9awfbladna” travel card, innovative initiatives aimed at supporting the development of domestic tourism, which constitutes a major axis of resilience for national professionals after sixteen months of health crisis.
Such promising and ambitious initiatives aim to put the tourism sector back on track and gradually accelerate its take-off, to allow tourism professionals to see the light at the end of the tunnel and ultimately to restore the spiritual capital to its attractiveness and its radiance of yesteryear. Especially since the spiritual capital is still one of the favorite destinations of foreign tourists and national vacationers.
MAP / Nouredine Nassiri