The Minister of Tourism, Crafts and the Social and Solidarity Economy, Fatim-Zahra Ammor, called for the development of a concrete action plan in view of the numerous international events planned between 2025 and 2030, including the World Cup in 2030.
This action plan must focus on strengthening tourism infrastructure, in line with air development, whether in terms of increasing capacity or upgrading existing establishments, improving the quality of service for respond to the ambitions of the sector and strengthen the training of young talents, said Ms. Ammor who chaired a meeting with the National Confederation of Tourism (CNT), in a context of remarkable performance of the Moroccan tourism sector, indicates a press release from the ministry.
In this sense, she encouraged hoteliers to take advantage of Cap Hospitality, limited in time, to accelerate this upgrade, emphasizing the importance of territorial promotion to develop new tourist destinations, beyond those already mature, reported the same source.
According to her, this approach aims to diversify the tourist offer and to compensate for the strong seasonality in certain regions, thus allowing a more balanced distribution of tourist flows throughout the year and across the entire national territory.
“We are at a decisive turning point. Moroccan tourism has proven its potential with exceptional results, but the challenges ahead, notably the co-organization of the World Cup in 2030, require total mobilization. Under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, we are more motivated than ever to accelerate the development of this key sector,” she said.
On this occasion, she highlighted the exceptional growth of the sector, recalling the record figures: 14.6 million visitors in October, 97 billion dirhams in foreign currency revenue, and 24 million overnight stays (an increase of 10% compared to 2023).
Thus, she welcomed these unprecedented results, the result of close collaboration between the government and professionals, noting that in 2023, the sector employed 827,000 people, thus creating 25,000 new direct jobs compared to 2022.
For his part, the president of the CNT, Hamid Bentahar, expressed his pride in the results obtained and praised the exemplary synergy between the public and private sectors, emphasizing the responsiveness of the government and the rapid release of the necessary resources. .
-Stressing the importance of accelerating efforts, Mr. Bentahar proposed strengthening the role of federations as key partners in this dynamic.
He particularly focused on two priorities, namely the urgent acceleration of the training project and the upgrading of hotel establishments across all regions of the Kingdom.
“After the collective effort that led to these remarkable results, it’s time for collective acceleration. The CNT is fully committed to working hand in hand with the Ministry to develop our offer, strengthen our training and increase the attractiveness and competitiveness of our sector,” affirmed Mr. Bentahar.
The presidents of the federations and trade associations present unanimously supported Mr. Bentahar’s remarks, expressing their satisfaction with the government’s commitment and the results obtained.
While aligning with the priority areas, the participants also raised specific issues by trade or region, issues which will be addressed during dedicated meetings.
This meeting was attended by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Tourism, Crafts and the Social and Solidarity Economy, Mohammed Msellek, the Director General of the Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT), Achraf Faida, the President of the CNT, Hamid Bentahar, as well as the presidents of all professional tourism federations and the presidents of the Regional Tourism Councils.
