India, Morocco Sign Tourism Development Agreement

A BILATERAL meeting on tourism cooperation between India and Morocco led by the Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicraft and Social Economy, Kingdom of Morocco, Mohamed Sajid and the Minister of State for Tourism (IC), Government of India, K. J. Alphons, held in New Delhi today.

During this meeting both the Ministers agreed to enhance the tourism cooperation between India & Morocco and to work towards increasing tourist arrivals between both countries. This meeting was followed by signing of an agreement of cooperation between the India Tourism Development Corporation and La Societe Marocaine D’Ingenierie Touristique, also known as Moroccan Agency for Tourism development (SMIT).

The MoU was signed in the presence of K.J. Alphons, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, Government of India and Mohammed Sajid, Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicraft and Social Economy, Government of the Kingdom of Morocco by Ravneet Kaur, Chairperson & Managing Director (C&MD), ITDC and Imad Barrakad, Chairman and CEO, SMIT.

Speaking at the occasion, Kaur said “Signing of the MoU is an acknowledgement of the capabilities and core competency of ITDC and the important role it has played in development of tourism and related infrastructure in the country.”

With the signing of the MoU, both the organisations will be able to share engineering and tourism products development expertise; new trends and technology in tourism products and innovative tourism product development; marketing / feasibility studies related to the needs and expectations of investors and tourists; expertise in structuring projects in the infrastructure space apart from sharing of data base of potential Indian and Moroccan investors in the tourism sector.

In addition to this, Mohammed Sajid, Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicraft and Social Economy, Government of the Kingdom of Morocco informed that an air agreement would be signed with Air India to increase air connectivity between India and Morocco.

The Minister also announced the opening of the first tourism office in New Delhi, India. In an endeavour to double its tourist footfall from India by 2019, Morocco has set up a full-fledged Moroccan National Tourism Office in New Delhi as the first step towards promotion of Morocco as a desirable destination for Indians.

“This office will help us in planning various strategic promotional and awareness programs to tap the robust tourism sector in India”, the minister said. He further stressed that Morocco is keen to enhance its cooperation with India in the tourism sector, in harmony with its new orientation towards emerging as a preferred destination outside the traditional Asian tourist market.

Morocco is one of the most enticing and captivating countries in the world and one of the most beautiful cities in Africa with some of the most hypnotic street markets. Moroccan-Indian relations are getting stronger, as Morocco prepares to implement several measures to welcome more Indian tourists in 2019.

Tourism remains a vital pillar of the Moroccan economy and the country’s second biggest employer after agriculture, while India is the fastest growing outbound market after China with UNTWO predicting 50 million travellers by 2020.

With 7% GDP global growth rate, rising personal income levels and changing lifestyles and a huge middle class with the availability of low-cost airfares and diverse travel packages, India is rapidly becoming one of the fastest growing outbound travel markets in the world. Indian tourists are among the world’s highest-spending globetrotters. Their spending power has been estimated to be four times that of the Chinese and Japanese which justifies the need for a planned strategic campaign for Morocco in India.

India and Morocco share strong historical, economic and political ties. Signing of the MoU will further strengthen and develop this well-established relationship.