Morocco and the World Tourism Organization (WTO) on Wednesday in Rabat signed a letter of intent relating to the holding of the 24th session of the WTO General Assembly in Marrakech, Morocco in the 4th quarter of 2021.
Signed by the Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts, Air Transport and Social Economy, Mrs. Nadia Fettah, and the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, this document give a strong signal and a message of hope to the international tourism community and to Moroccan tourist operators in particular, all the more so as it coincides with the launching of vaccination campaigns throughout the world.
During this ceremony, the Moroccan Minister of Tourism indicated that the Kingdom is proud and honoured to bring together the great family of tourism in Marrakech in 2021, on the occasion of the 24th session of the UNWTO General Assembly, by underlining the total mobilisation of her department in concert with the concerned stakeholders for the smooth running of this global tourist event.
She stressed that the tourist sector in Morocco, following the example of other countries throughout the world, has benefited from a programme contract which was signed on August 6, 2020 as well as an amendment signed on January 6, 2021 and which has made it possible to support this sector hard hit by this unprecedented pandemic which has spared no destination in the world.
The Minister also highlighted the active contribution of Morocco to the initiatives of the UNWTO on training and education, including the work of the UNWTO Committee for online training in the tourism sector “Tourism Online Education,” knowing that Morocco constitutes, alongside Kenya, a member representing the African continent within this committee, given its important role in terms of hotel and tourism training.
She also recalled that Morocco was one of the first countries on the continental level to launch its vaccination campaign on January 28, 2021, a campaign which is taking place in a climate of mobilization of all components of society and whose initial results are very encouraging.
For his part, the Secretary General of the UNWTO highlighted the special cooperation relations between the Kingdom and the UNWTO in the field of tourism.
According to him, the next UNWTO General Assembly to be hosted by Morocco in 2021 will be historic and that the UNWTO will spare no effort to make it one of the most successful post-pandemic events, specifying that the Marrakech meeting will be an opportunity to discuss the future of the tourism sector, which has been hard hit by the health crisis, and that the organisation’s Member States and representatives of the private sector will be invited to attend.
He also stressed that Morocco is an excellent destination to promote and a model in the tourism sector, highlighting the great experience of the Kingdom in the field of tourism.
This working session held between the UNWTO delegation and its Moroccan counterpart was also an opportunity to discuss the state of the tourism sector in Morocco and in the world in the context marked by the COVID-19 crisis.
Morocco was elected at the 22nd Session of the said Assembly held in September 2019 in St. Petersburg, Russia, with a total of 74 votes against 17 and 11 respectively for Kenya and the Philippines.
HA/lb/abj/APA