The New Virus Treatens Tourism in Morocco
Morocco's decision to close the airspace to international air traffic, warning of the infiltration of the new mutated Omicron virus, has raised the concerns of workers in various fields of the tourism sector of the negative repercussions that may be severe and difficult for their tourism activity in The Country. Country.
The end of the year and the beginning of the New Year holidays, is the time when tourism is booming in Morocco to attract many tourists and compensate for some of the losses that the tourism field has known during the past two years, due to the Corona virus pandemic. . that the whole world knew.
Morocco announced the suspension of all International flights for a period of two weeks, to confront the new mutant of the Corona virus called Omicron, and to preserve the gains it made in fighting the epidemic before.
The tourism sector in Morocco recorded a relative recovery in the middle of this year, with the progress of the vaccination campaign against the epidemic and the easing of precautionary measures.
According to official figures, Tourism revenue increased between June and September of last year by about $1.73 billion, an increase of more than 202 percent year on year.
Despite this encouraging figure and an estimated improvement of nearly three times compared to 2020, it is still 40.2 percent lower, compared to the same period in 2019.
Tourism is an important source of hard currency in Morocco, and one of the most prominent sectors that incurred losses estimated at billions of dollars, due to the repercussions of the epidemic.
- Cancel Reservations
Many workers in the tourism sector confirm that a large number of foreign reservations were canceled immediately after the suspension of flights due to the new strain of the virus called Omicron, and the entry ban of Travelers from all over the world to Morocco.
The head of the Association of Travel Agencies in the Casablanca region said that the first repercussions of closing the air borders to prevent the spread of the virus called Omicron were particularly clear. In the cancellation of many reservations of tourist delegations that were programmed at the end of the year.
He adds that the end of the Gregorian year is an opportunity to revive tourism activity, but the current situation may return things to square one.
The head of the Federation of Travel Agencies in the Greater Casablanca region expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by Morocco to prevent the infiltration of the new virus into its territory and to protect the health of citizens by taking the necessary precautions. Taking practical measures to keep pace with the tourism sector in order to manage this crisis and protect the interests of professionals in this vital sector in Morocco.
The operator in the field of tourism confirms that the sector has been living for two years in the face of an acute crisis, in light of the fragile recovery and the unstable epidemiological situation around the world.
- Domestic Tourism
There is great fear among tourism actors in Morocco, of the possibility of tightening precautionary measures and preventing movement between cities in the event of the emergence of the Omicron boom in the coming days, which may negatively affect the activity of domestic tourism.
The president of the Association of Travel Agencies in Casablanca, Khaled Ben Azzouz, believes that if the precautionary measures are tightened again, and in the event that the epidemiological situation develops, this will lead to a severe crisis in the tourism sector in Morocco.
He adds that the imposition of new restrictions on the internal movement will be reflected in the activity of domestic Tourism, whose revenues contribute proportionally to alleviating the impact of the crisis.
The President of the Association of Travel Agencies in Casablanca indicated the need to take all necessary precautions to avoid the deterioration of the epidemiological situation in our country, especially after the efforts made in Morocco and to reach an important result in the vaccination campaign against the virus.
More than 22 million people received two doses of the Corona virus vaccine, while more than one million people benefited from the third dose of vaccination, according to the latest official toll.
- Tourism-Related Career Prospects
Many officials in the tourism sector expect that the tourism business will be affected by the measures that may keep pace with the new situation resulting from this boom, just as many professions and crafts associated with this important tourism sector, especially in most of them, may be affected. Notable tourist cities such as Agadir and Marrakesh.
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