Half-empty souks where practically only Arabic is spoken, restaurants where the famous belly dancing shows are conspicuous by their absence and hotels with tiny percentages are suffering the crisis

Omicron puts Morocco's ailing tourism sector under pressure

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The increase in cases of COVID-19 in Europe and the new Omicron variant are once again threatening the Moroccan tourism sector, which has not yet recovered from the painful effects of previous closures, causing the livelihoods of millions of people who live directly or indirectly from foreign tourism to falter once again.

Following Morocco's decision to close its borders to the world for at least two weeks to protect itself from the new variant of the virus, this new change of rules has left Morocco's badly wounded tourism industry in shock. Morocco is thus following in the footsteps of countries such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Japan, which have decided to take protective measures and directly suspend all international flights.

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The closure, which could be extended depending on the evolution of the pandemic and the new Omicron variant, coincides with the pre-Christmas and Christmas season, which - under normal conditions - usually registers close to 100% occupancy. 

This new strain, which is once again shaking the world, is putting at risk a multitude of Moroccan businesses that were finally starting to get back on their feet. Fatima works in a local travel agency and tells us that, barely 24 hours after the announcement of the border closure, clients had already cancelled dozens of bookings for the end of the year and the beginning of 2022. "We are in shock because we have only worked for three months this year and now they are sending us back home to wait. It's very difficult to look to the future with hope like this", says this woman from Tetouan with a serious expression.

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Tourism is trying to recover from the catastrophic figures of 2020

Tourism activity began to improve from mid-June 2021, which was when the Maghreb country launched the so-called Operation Marhaba (welcome back), allowing its residents abroad to return for holidays. The arrival of foreign tourists started to become a reality in the following months (especially in September, October and November this year), thanks to the good development of the massive vaccination campaign in Morocco with more than 60% of the population having two doses.

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According to the latest data from the Directorate of Studies and Financial Forecasts of the Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance, in the third quarter of 2021, tourism recorded revenues of 15.9 billion dirhams (about €1.5 billion). A figure that is a significant improvement (about threefold) compared to 2020, although it represents a decline of more than 40% when compared to the same period in 2019, before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.  This is why there are fears that tourism activity will close this year with results that could be catastrophic, similar to 2020 with a 79% drop compared to the previous year.

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 "It's a ruin, let's hope God helps us"

The famous Palace Bouhlal restaurant in the Medina of Tetouan has suffered in this year and a half the hardest blow in its history. We chat with its manager, Mohamed, who tells us that before the pandemic he had more than twenty employees and that now he has three (two cooks and a waiter). And while he used to feed 200 people a day, on any given Sunday there are now no more than six diners. Moreover, he had planned to travel to Barcelona in the near future to close a tour with Spanish clients. He will no longer be able to go. "Allah will not allow us to go under," says Mohamed. "Inshallah" (God willing), he adds as he shows us the empty restaurant.

For Hossan, owner of a small Riad in Chefchaouen, Morocco's shielding has been an unexpected setback. In the last few weeks he had managed to close about twenty bookings for the end of the year, which have now been cancelled. He describes the worst months of the pandemic as a huge void in his life and profession. He shut down for a year and a half, spent all his savings and had to lay off 90% of the staff. Now only he and a woman who cleans the rooms and the kitchen are left. "It's a ruin, let's hope God helps us", he laments when asked about his future. He acknowledges that the residents of this Rifian city - known as the blue pearl - are living through uncertain times, with empty souvenir shops, half-finished restaurants and hotels in the doldrums. "We are not living our best moment, but better times will come," Hossan predicts when we talk to him on the terrace of the centrally located Aymane Hotel.

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 Businesses operating at half throttle and planes not arriving

It's not unlike the situation Mustafa finds himself in. We spoke to a Moroccan who was born in the city of Nador, has 7 children and 10 grandchildren and has been selling carpets, bedspreads and tapestries in the souk in the Medina of Tetouan for decades. In the boom times, Mustafa recalls, he used to see around fifty tourists a day in his shop, most of whom came thanks to organised tours. "The tours no longer operate here and the tourists who come on their own prefer not to enter the shop to avoid contagion. Many don't even accept the welcome tea out of fear. And that's a problem", Mustapha tells us in perfect Spanish learned in Melilla. "If I don't sell carpets, neither my children nor my grandchildren eat. We can't support ourselves with local customers alone", he laments as we stroll through the Medina of Tetouan (a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

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In Tangiers, the picture is similar. We approached a "gorrilla" who works as a guide during the day and as a valet at night. Anas has been doing both jobs for at least 15 years and the absence of tourists is ruining him and his family. "Before the pandemic, you could say I was almost rich, or at least I lived very well, but life has gone wrong and I haven't been able to make ends meet for many months," he laments. "Tourist visits to the medina were the only thing that really sustained my family and now visitors come in dribs and drabs. It's as if the city had a different colour", concludes this young man of Berber origin. 

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Behind every number hides a name

Fatima, Anas, Mohamed, Mustafa and Hossan are just five examples out of thousands. According to data from the Office des Changes, under normal conditions the direct impact of tourism on Morocco's gross domestic product (GDP) is around 11% and generates more than 540,000 direct jobs: 5% of the total. But sadly, many of these have already been lost, and many others are being jeopardised by the new Omicron variant.

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