Morocco tourism struggles despite vaccine progress

Morocco tourism struggles despite vaccine progress

The pandemic hit Morocco just as bike tour company Marrakech Green Wheels was entering its peak season in the spring, when the heat is less harsh. Everything was cancelled and the company has not had a single booking or a penny of revenue since. Now, founder Adel El Filali has stopped waiting for tourists to return.

“Forget about tourism until it is back, you can’t rely on it at all,” says the 31-year-old, who has started working in fashion production, while his co-founder works in a call centre. Instead, they have been active in organising cycling activities for locals on a voluntary basis.

Morocco’s orders are open and vaccinated visitors are exempt from quarantine but, in the Marrakesh old town, many restaurants and shops have yet to reopen their doors because footfall remains low.

The toll of the pandemic on tourism, which, according to the World Bank, contributes 11 per cent of the country’s GDP and accounts for 17 per cent of the workforce, was felt both locally and nationally.

While other sectors of the economy are starting to rebound, tourism will “continue to suffer”, says Yasmina Abouzzohour, research fellow at the Harvard Middle East Initiative. Back in 2020, she warned that “banking on