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Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social and Solidarity Economy Fatima-Zahra Ammor lauded on January 17 the achievements of the Moroccan Society of Tourism Engineering (SMIT) to revive tourism investment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a speech she gave while chairing the SMIT Board of Directors meeting, Ammor highlighted SMIT’s strategy to revive tourism investment and the notable results it recorded.
The new paradigm of intervention of the SMIT and the mechanisms put in place have allowed the company to adapt to the changes inherent in the sector, the ministry said in a statement.
As part of its strategy, the SMIT reoriented its efforts towards developing tourism ecosystems by strengthening high value-added professions, broadening the scope of intervention to all tourism activities, and strengthening incentive mechanisms.
The Moroccan minister recalled that last year, the SMIT led new partnerships to support tourist destinations across Morocco while increasing investments in the industry to over MAD 150 million ($16 million) to create products in line with domestic and international demand.
In January 2021, the Ministry of Tourism and the SMIT contributed 10% to the total budget of the Moroccan-Swiss program that aims to promote sustainable tourism in the region of Beni Mellal-Khenifra.
The five-year program seeks to develop the region’s sustainable tourism value chain to help strengthen the local economy by reducing poverty and creating jobs, especially for young people and women.
For this year, SMIT intends to focus on implementing several programs to boost investment opportunities and encourage the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship as a solution for growth.
As it expects its investments to reach MAD 434 million ($47 million) in 2022, SMIT aims to monitor several projects that are currently in the launch phase within the framework of SMIT-Regions partnerships.
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