Rabat – Officials from UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Morocco recently met to proceed with organizing the 24th UNWTO General Assembly for October 2021 in Morocco.
The UNWTO General Assembly, held in Marrakech, will be the first international high-level UN event since COVID-19 put the world in lockdown.
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili led the UNWTO delegation and visited Morocco to discuss the details of the upcoming statutory meeting focusing on Education and Youth, Rural Development and Digital Innovation.
Meanwhile, Moroccan Minister of Tourism Nadia Fettah Alaoui, accompanying the delegation over the three-day visit, expressed Morocco’s commitment to hosting a “historic” General Assembly. She also stressed the importance of reviving international tourism in a safe and sustainable way.
“Tourism is adapting to the new reality and we face the future with optimism and with the backing of our Members,” noted Pololikashvili.
Read also: Global Tourism Suffered its ‘Worst Year on Record’ in 2020
Moroccan Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani and Nasser Bourita, minister of foreign affairs, both welcomed the UNWTO secretary-general in Rabat. The Moroccan politicians underlined the importance of high-level support from the host country in organizing such events.
In June 2020, UNWTO in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) pledged to support the recovery of the tourism sector across the economies where the Bank invests, including Morocco.
UNWTO commits to providing technical assistance to identify markets that can help accelerate recovery, addressing product diversification, and re-formulating strategies for marketing, such as promotional activities.
The Moroccan tourism sector, which lost out on $4.77 billion (MAD 42.4 billion) in 2020 due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions, is looking for the means to give the country an economic boost in a post-pandemic world.
