Intrepid Travel urges trade to support Morocco despite flight ban
Tour operator Intrepid Travel has urged agents to continue supporting Morocco after the country banned flights from the UK last month.
The North African country also banned direct flights from the Netherlands and Germany on October 20 for an unspecified period due to rising Covid infection levels in those European markets.
Brits have not been banned from travelling to Morocco but must travel via a third country.
Zina Bencheikh, EMEA managing director of Intrepid, said Morocco was booming before the pandemic and had been coming back strongly after international travel restrictions eased in the summer.
“Morocco is one of the top three destinations for Intrepid worldwide,” she said. “It’s a really important destination for the UK because it’s a winter destination as well as summer.
“It’s also an incredibly diverse country with city, beach, adventure and activity and cultural attractions.
“We have run 62 departures since borders were opened in June and had 42 more to operate with a few on the ground when the latest decision was made. People were very happy to stay and were enjoying their holidays. We had no cancellations.
“The situation is being reviewed every two weeks, and this is just the reality of the last two years. But there is still real demand, especially for that winter period.
Morocco is to host the Abta Convention in October 2022 in Marrakesh, and Bencheikh noted: “It’s a destination that really relies on tourism. It’s important for travel to restart in Morocco.”
Intrepid will continue to operate tours to the country but guests will have to transit through other countries like France or Portugal while the flight ban remains in place.
Bencheikh said the Moroccan National Tourism Office has reassured the trade and engaged with agents this week during World Travel Market in London, where the country had a stand.
“This is what’s going to happen in this new world,” she said. “We are well vaccinated in this country but the world is not vaccinated yet and there are a lot of lower income countries that want to manage the Covid situation.
“It’s important to reinforce the fact that it’s still possible to travel there, they’ve banned flights but not closed the borders. We have people on the ground, and they are happy.
“It’s important to talk about how important tourism is to Morocco.”
Before the pandemic, Morocco had close to 12 million visitors a year. Bencheikh said it “went from that to close to nothing” when the virus struck.
“There’s so much good that comes from tourism that countries like Morocco benefit from with the money coming from customers that goes to family-run businesses, charities and NGOs,” she added.
“The whole ecosystem has been badly affected. If we have to run trips that are less commercially viable, we will run them to get people back to work. We should let people know that it’s become a little more complicated but it’s still possible to travel.”
She added: “The message is plan your holiday, talk to your travel agent or tour operator, ask questions and book your holiday. There is a lot of flexibility so people can be confident.”
When Morocco imposed its flight ban, the UK infection rate stood at 445.5 per 100,000 people whereas in Morocco it was just 10.4. Compared to many African nations, Morocco has rolled out vaccinations relatively quickly and around 60% of the population are fully vaccinated.
