Agadir Receive First British Tourists as Morocco Revives Tourism Sector

Rabat – Agadir, a coastal city in Morocco near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, received its first group of British tourists on Saturday at Agadir-Al Massira airport after months of travel restrictions as part of measures to combat COVID-19.

The first group of British tourists arrived from Manchester through the low-cost airline Ryanair as part of Morocco’s efforts to gradually relaunch national tourism.

The director of Agadir-Al Massira airport Mohamed Bahaj expressed satisfaction with the arrival of the tourists.

He said the event is of great importance and brings great hope to Agadir’s tourism sector professionals.

Bahaj said the airport has put in place “remarkable preventive systems, able to ensure a healthy and reassuring exception and healthy journey” to travelers.

He said the airport infrastructure is connected to five European cities at the rate of 13 weekly frequencies. It is also connected to five Moroccan cities at the rate of 24 weekly flights.

Bahaj also explained that the airport receives special flights served by Royal Air Maroc (RAM), Air Arabia Maroc, and Transavia, in addition to Ryanair.

Asmaa Oubou, the director of the Regional Tourism Council of Agadir Souss-Massa (CRT), welcomed the first group of tourists.

She said their arrival is a huge step forward in the process of gradually relaunching the tourism sector in Morocco.

Oubou recalled Morocco’s modifications to its travel requirements, including the elimination of the serological test and the extension of the validity period of the PCR test to three days instead of 48 hours.

She said the measure has encouraged tourists to visit Morocco and contribute to the revival of the tourism sector.

Last week, Marrakech also received a group of 160 French tourists as part of lockdown easing measures.

In September, Morocco announced a decision to open borders for tourists who have hotel reservations and also for business visitors who have invitations from Moroccan companies.

The decision comes to rescue the tourism and industrial sectors, which faced dire impacts from the COVID-19 crisis.

The pandemic caused Morocco’s tourism sector to incur a loss of MAD 18.2 billion ($2 billion) in the first seven months of 2020.

The number represents a decline of 44.1%.

While visa-exempt tourists are welcome to visit the country, Morocco is set to remain under a state of emergency until November 10.