“Land of One Thousand and One Nights” Morocco with its open skies attracts tourists back

INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION CAMPAIGN “DESTINATION MOROCCO”

To further boost the country's tourism strengths, the Moroccan government has launched a 2 billion Dirham (about 220 million USD) emergency plan to maintain jobs for tourism industry workers and support travel agencies.

An international promotional campaign for “Destination Morocco” is also planned to be launched as soon as international tourism flows return. Previously, in the Vision 2020 Plan, the Moroccan Government also set a target of attracting double the number of foreign tourists to 20 million people per year.

However, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on the tourism sector, after Morocco imposed a lockdown in March 2020. Morocco then gradually reopened, but in November 2021 had to close its airspace due to the emergence of the new Omicron variant. The closure caused the number of tourists to Morocco in 2021 to drop significantly, to about 7.25 million.

The airspace closure has left many Moroccans and foreigners stranded abroad, after some of the earliest flights from Türkiye, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were able to bring some passengers back to Morocco.

Now, although the Moroccan government announced the reopening of its airspace from February 7, it still applies regulations to ensure safety for both Moroccans and tourists, such as: passengers arriving in Morocco must present a vaccination card and a negative PCR test result performed no more than 48 hours before the flight; at the same time, they still have to take a rapid test or a PRC test (performed randomly).

However, Moroccan authorities also advise that 48 hours after entry, passengers may still need to take additional tests at their hotel or residence, and those who test positive will have to self-isolate. Mask wearing regulations still apply in public areas.

MOROCCO OPENS UP WITH A “RISK-BASED APPROACH”

As one of the first passengers to return to Morocco on 7 February, Ms. Zina Bencheikh, Managing Director EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) of Intrepid Travel, praised the Moroccan Government for adopting a “risk-based approach” to reopening. She also shared her joy of returning to Morocco to kick-start 2022 with the immediate goal of welcoming visitors from the UK source market.

Dubbed as “Wonderland”, “Land of One Thousand and One Nights” for its magical beauty like in fairy tales, the Kingdom of Morocco in northwest Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, has many advantages to develop a tourism industry that attracts visitors because “it can bring many unique experiences in one trip: from snow-capped mountains to magical landscapes from sand resources in the desert…”.

Moroccan cuisine is considered the best among Eastern cuisines, with a delicate combination of vegetables and fruits, spices with special aromas, very fresh meats and fish... Tea is considered the most special highlight among Moroccan drinks. The most favorite tea of ​​Moroccan people is strong and very sweet mint tea, which both quenches thirst and hydrates the body, helping people "recharge their energy" every morning when they wake up.

Visitors to Morocco are advised to take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy mint tea, especially when invited by residents of the "last nomadic communities in Morocco" living in the desert such as the Berbers and Saharawi tribes to participate in tea ceremonies during meetings.

In particular, the Saharawi people have a famous saying describing the mint tea they often drink three cups in a row and consider it a spiritual symbol: "The first cup of tea is bitter like life, the second cup is sweet like love, the third cup is gentle like death."

Thanh Nguyen