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Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Bin Aqeel Al-Khateeb, highlighted the importance of the upcoming World Tourism Organization’s General Assembly, which will take place in Marrakech in October.
The Saudi Minister also emphasized that Morocco and Saudi Arabia will collaborate closely to ensure the success of the event, which will address international tourism issues and challenges the sector faces.
The Saudi official further expressed the expectation that this event would encourage the display of the tourism capabilities of the Arab region as well as discuss the major challenges it faces.
The statement was made following a meeting with Morocco’s own Minister of Tourism, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, during which Al-Khateeb added that the assembly will see the establishment of several important projects to revive international tourism after a very turbulent year in 2020, mainly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Al-Khateeb noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and its adverse economic effects resulted in the loss of more than 60 million jobs in the tourism sector internationally, thereby making it necessary for the international community to work together to solve these problems and boost tourism.
Morocco’s own Directorate of Financial Studies and Forecasts (DEPF) recently reported a loss of MAD 12.3 billion (close to $1.30 billion) in April 2021, attributing the loss mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic impact.
This followed a trend of worldwide decline for the tourism and hospitality sectors that started with the spread of the coronavirus. A UN report recently showed a decline of 73% in international arrivals last year and 88% in the first quarter of this year, estimating a potential loss of $4 trillion to the global economy.
The Saudi Minister praised Morocco’s ongoing vaccination campaign, claiming that the Kingdom has established itself as a safe tourist destination for foreign visitors, similar to Saudi Arabia.
Morocco has, as of yesterday, vaccinated over 9 million people against the disease, surpassing the global average for the vaccine’s administration.
