ONMT: opening of the work of the Welcome Travel Group agreement
This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:
Hibapress
The work of the Welcome Travel Group network agreement, welcomed by the Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT), opened on Saturday in Bouznika, bringing together a large delegation of Italian towers and officials from the Moroccan tourism sector. This event, which marks an important step in tourist relations between Morocco and Italy, was an opportunity for Moroccan officials to present their strategic vision to develop tourist flows between the two countries.
Speaking on this occasion, the director general of ONMT, Achraf Fayda, stressed that “Morocco is now the first tourist destination in Africa, with 17.4 million tourists welcomed last year”, adding that the growth potential remains considerable, especially with the Italian market.
“We received less than a million Italian visitors last year, half of whom are Moroccans residing in Italy. We want to multiply by two, three or four this figure, because I am convinced that the Italians are curious and appreciate the new destinations and cultures, “he said.
Mr. Fayda also highlighted the importance that the Moroccan government gives to the tourism sector, with public investments of more than one billion euros planned over ten years, not to mention private investments.
“Morocco transforms six host cities of the 2030 World Cup, with funding for half a billion euros for each of them,” he said.
For his part, Kazzini Ilham, commercial director of Royal Air Maroc, detailed the expansion plans of the national airline.
“Our ambition is to go from 60 planes today to 130 in 2030, to be ready for the World Cup,” said Kazzini.
She also announced the upcoming launch of new direct links between Morocco and Italy, notably Marrakech-Milan in September, as well as flights to Rome and Bologna.
The manager highlighted the recent signature of a codes sharing agreement with Ita Airways, inviting the Italian company to develop its connections to Morocco, having regard “the enormous potential” between the two countries.
In her intervention, Andrea Giuricin, an economist at the University of Milan-Bicocca and CEO of Tra consulting, presented an analysis of the Post-Covid World Tourism sector, noting that “the sector recovered faster than expected, exceeding in 2023 the levels of 2019”.
He particularly underlined the role of Morocco in this positive dynamic considering that “Africa, in particular thanks to Morocco, certainly experienced a very rapid recovery, part of the world’s trends observed currently”.
For his part, Luigi Stefanelli, vice-president of the global sales of Costa Cruises, presented the company’s innovations in terms of excursions, with a new categorization adapted to the various profiles of travelers.
“We have completely redrawn our excursion program to make it more understandable for customers and easier to explain for our partners,” he said.
This agreement, which welcomes the largest network of Italian travel agencies under the aegis of the ONMT, testifies to Morocco’s desire to strengthen its position on the Mediterranean tourism market and to diversify its issuing markets, especially in the perspective of the 2030 World Cup that the country co-organized with Spain and Portugal.
