By Larbi Arbaoui
By Larbi Arbaoui
Morocco World News
Taroudant, Morocco, May 5, 2012
Morocco has decided to set up 38 cameras for monitoring Djemaa el Fna, the famous square in Marrakech, after the tragic terrorist bombing targeted a cafe frequented by tourists a year ago.
According to Akhbar Alyaoum, the General Administration of National Security in Morocco placed 38 cameras for monitoring Djemaa el Fna Square in Marrakech to guard against any new attack that may target, once again, the popular tourist destination.
The newspaper reported that “These cameras will cover the whole square of Djemaa el Fna with a total area of 20 thousand square meters in order to prevent the occurrence of other tragic incidents, such as the one that targeted Argane Café, resulting in the stagnation of tourism in Morocco’s first touristic city.”
According to the same source, the local authorities’ commitment can be demonstrated by the “strengthening of surveillance cameras with a security team made up of 20 members using bikes to control the square in addition to reinforcing security in some neighborhoods which are regarded black spots and increasing the number of security offices from 13 to 15.”
The Moroccan daily newspaper added that the security officials “held consecutive meetings in Marrakesh, aiming to multiply their efforts to secure tourism facilities and provide appropriate secure spaces for tourists who visit the ‘red city’ as well as intensifying security presence in the streets.”
According to official statistics provided by the General Department for National Security in Morocco, the number of tourists arriving in Morocco has increased one year after the terrorist attacks of Marrakech, reaching nearly 9.34 million tourists, a third of them who were Moroccans living abroad.
In this regard, it is worth mentioning that tourism revenues in Morocco increased to 60 billion Dirhams (approximately $7.5 billion), recording a 4% rise compared to the year 2010-2011, thereby maintaining the tourism sector’s role as the most important source of hard currency in the country.
Tourism generates the largest supplier of hard currency for Morocco at 8 percent of GDP.
© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved.
