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Morocco’s most hit sectors have hailed the government’s decision to resume air travel starting February 7.
Like other operators in the tourism industry, leather artisans were heavily hit by the closure of borders. MWN contacted leather handicraft workers to talk about their aspirations about the opening of air travel.
Ali Baaloul, a leather artisan, expresses the sector’s optimism about the opening of borders. He spoke of the suffering the handcraft leather sector has been undergoing for four years. He noted that their sector suffered for two years before the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that they were displaced from hotels and have been working in Morocco’s handicraft home in Rabat four years ago. The new situation has distanced them from tourists and wholesalers they used to deal with, Baaloul explained.
The sector has witnessed a catastrophic bankruptcy in recent years, with handmade leather products being stocked without being sold.
The artisan explained that the closure of borders worsened the situation of their business, as foreign tourists and Moroccans residing abroad are the main buyers of local artisans’ leather products.
Read also: Artisans Warn Morocco Losing its Tourist Appeal as More Businesses Close
Baaloul stressed that they have sent messages to officials in charge of the sector to consider their situation, but in vain. He further said that although the previous minister of tourism vowed to look at their sector’s crisis, she didn’t keep her word.
He urged officials to take this sector into account, adding that it has a crucial role in promoting Morocco’s cultural heritage and culture.
The artisan blamed the four governmental departments in charge of the leather handcraft sector, namely the Ministry of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social Economy, Rabat’s handicrafts chamber, the Handicraft home, and Rabat’s Handicraft Delegation, for their lack of communication about the sector’s problems.
He rubbished the handicrafts chamber for not communicating the sector’s suffering to the authorities.
Baaloul raised the issue of unbalanced competitiveness with big leather companies and criticized the lack of a policy that regulates the issue.
He recalled that the leather handicraft has witnessed a backwardness in recent years, either due to the lack of communication or government’s respeivess to artisans’ plight.
