Special envoy.
- Moroccan hoteliers may have deployed all their adaptability since the start of the Covid 19 pandemic, this time, their patience is close to reaching its limits.
After announcing the suspension of flights with France on November 26, Morocco finally decided at the last minute to simply shut down its skies for all direct passenger flights for a period of two weeks from the evening of November 29. .
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The reason ?
The "
rapid spread of the new variant of the covid 19 virus
" Omicron "
particularly in Europe and Africa
" and the desire "
to preserve the gains made by Morocco in the fight against the pandemic
", indicates a press release from the interministerial committee of Covid monitoring.
As of December 1, while the cumulative number of people fully vaccinated with two doses stood at 22.68 million and with three doses at 1.69 million, there were 171 new cases, one of the lowest levels of daily contamination. since the start of the pandemic.
It is to say if the decision caused the amazement of the professionals of tourism.
"
The hoteliers try to maintain employment and with it social cohesion, but each time a recovery begins, we are brutally cut off our hopes
"regretted the manager of a palace in Marrakech for whom the situation is"
dramatic
”.
While the end-of-year celebrations foreshadowed "
the great return of
Marrakech
", as Alexandre Leymarie, director of the Beldi Country Club sums it up, the question was on everyone's lips: will foreign travelers, especially French ones, be able to come. to celebrate the change of year in Morocco?
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Suppression of cascading flights
On November 25, Morocco decided to suspend "until further notice" direct flights to and from France, due to the resurgence of the epidemic in France. Before closing all the air borders for two weeks. Raid Laabi / stock.adobe.com
And all of looking up to the sky which seemed less and less favorable with the hours, the airlines loving nothing less than uncertainty. After Easyjet, which took the initiative by canceling its flight plan until the end of December, Transavia decided to cancel all its France / Morocco flights until January 2 inclusive (while ensuring Morocco / France flights at least until December 12). As for the low cost company Ryanair, it announced on Wednesday the suspension of all its flights to Morocco until February 1, 2022 in a
press
release regretting "
the lack of clarity of the Moroccan authorities
" and "
the persistent uncertainty
" indicates the press local, representing a total of 230,000 passengers.
For the other companies, the suspense remains unresolved while waiting to know if the closure measure will be extended or repealed. Royal Air Maroc announces that it is suspending its flights until December 13 at 11.59 p.m., with a special flight program in the meantime until December 6. For its part, Air France canceled all its rotations until December 5, continuing to provide repatriation flights at blocked prices between Morocco and France depending on the authorizations. And TuiFly is interrupting its program from France until December 22 inclusive, hoping to resume operations on the 23.
The schedules have started to empty for the holidays, even if customers, especially regulars are still waiting until the last moment.
"
Almost all reservations for Christmas week were pulverized in a few days when we were full,
" laments Eros Abrile, general manager of the boutique hotel Les Deux Tours in the palm grove, which closed its doors temporarily until the 18th. December, which was not expected even in this period of low season.
For the riads, which had finally resumed their activity thanks to the All Saints holidays, the suspense promises to be long.
"Gloomy atmosphere"
"
The atmosphere is gloomy
", summarizes Stéphane Leroy, president of the Association of Guest Houses of Marrakech and the South (MGH) which spares no effort to support its members. “
Many are closing their riads for the current two weeks
”. “
We have the impression of going back two years
” sighs in echo Stéphanie Guimberteau, installed for a long time in the medina where she manages five riads. "
Except that today we are at the end of our financial capacity, we have reinvested everything to be on top for the holidays and for 2022
".
A tourism bridgehead for the end-of-year celebrations, will Marrakech shine with all its fires? If the state of health emergency has been extended until December 31, nightlife - except for discos and casinos - has resumed its rights since the lifting of the curfew in early November. And hotels are maintaining or developing for the moment the planned festivities while being ready to draw plans B if the sky is closed for longer. “
We are going to adapt as always
”, underlines Kenza Zizi, Marketing Director of the Royal Mansour, “
the planning of our restaurants remains unchanged and we will have a very nice decoration from this weekend. The magic of Christmas will be there to make our customers dream
".
For many hoteliers, however, it may leave a bitter taste, the specter of bankruptcy having never been so present.
A sign that life continues despite everything, Marrakech is preparing to officially launch M Avenue, a new tourist-cultural district of 5 hectares located near La Menara which will soon host the Pestana CR7 Lifestyle hotel of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.
Featured in particular at the inauguration, the Meydene, its cultural center of 3000 m2 with permanent exhibition space, immersive space, theater and rooftop dedicated to authentic Moroccan culinary art.
A new spot to discover as soon as the sky reopens.
Answer in a few days…
