Stringent COVID rules hammer Morocco tourism

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Businesses working in the tourism sector of Morocco say that the country’s stringent COVID-19 restrictions like full flight ban are deteriorating its competitiveness compared to rival destinations.

In late November, Morocco shuts down its borders and will only reopen them at the end of January 2022. Also, it has stopped New Year celebrations and is putting into effect its vaccine pass requirements even more strictly in response to the Omicron variant.

To quote Lahcen Zelmat, head of Morocco’s hotel federation, “These restrictions are unjustified and they have made Morocco lose tourists to Mediterranean competitors such as Egypt and Turkey.”

In 2019, tourism generated $8 billion, or 7% of Morocco’s economy, but the Central Bank in 2022 hopes it to have made only $3.6 billion.

Zelmat said that hotels in Marrakech, the main tourist hub, have only 14% occupancy at what is normally peak season.
“We fear that by the time borders reopen we will find it hard to sell Morocco due to the sudden border closures,” said Emmanuelle Barat, a tour operator.

“I have received no customers for the last 10 days,” said Taher Onsi, a restaurant owner in Marrakech, adding that domestic tourism could not offset the fall in foreign visitors.

The government has approved a 2,000 dirham ($216) payment to tourism workers registered with social security who have been hit by the crisis.

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