Casablanca - In an effort to promote tourism in Africa, Moroccan Tourism Engineering Company (SMIT) organized a conference to discuss “tourism investment in Africa, an inclusive and sustainable development lever for the competitiveness of the territories.”
Casablanca – In an effort to promote tourism in Africa, Moroccan Tourism Engineering Company (SMIT) organized a conference to discuss “tourism investment in Africa, an inclusive and sustainable development lever for the competitiveness of the territories.”
The SMIT conference was held November 10-11, in conjunction with COP22 in Marrakech which began on Monday and will continue until November 18.
According to the Arabic-language news source, Hespress, the international officials and professionals who participated in the conference highlighted the investment sector and its connection to climate change in Africa.
The emerging industry of smart tourism is a new field where destinations, tourists and tourism investors depend on data provided by information and communications technology.
Addressing the ways in which this sort of tourism can be promoted in Africa, Chairman of the Management Board of the Moroccan Tourism Engineering Company, Imad Barrakad, said: “This type is the future of tourism, and relies on tourist programming.” He added that countries aiming to attract tourists “should take this element into account.”
Director General of the Moroccan National Tourist Office, Abderrafie Zouiten, explained that this sort of tourism “aims mainly at preserving the environment.” He continued that Morocco has been a “pioneer in its conception through adopting environmental tourism.”
With regard to the importance of smart tourism in putting the Paris Agreements to use in overcoming environmental issues, Morocco’s outgoing Minister of Environment, Hakima El Haite, who also took part in the conference, stated, “tourism can be involved in this challenge, especially with technological development… It can rely on alternative energies in hotels and tourist facilities.”
