Morocco and Switzerland officially launched the Moroccan-Swiss program in a meeting in Rabat on Wednesday, which aims to improve the conditions for sustainable tourism in the Beni Mellal-Khenifra region.
The Minister of tourismNadia Fettah Allaoui, Crafts, Aviation and Social Economy, held the meeting with Swiss Ambassador Guillaume Scheurer to further discuss the Moroccan-Swiss agreement signed on June 8th.
The Moroccan-Swiss program is part of a bilateral agreement between the Moroccan government and the Swiss Confederation to promote social and economic development.
The five-year program aims to develop the sustainable tourism value chain to help strengthen the economy, create jobs, especially for young people and women, and reduce poverty.
A “sustainable tourism value chain” means building a network of tourism organizations in the public and private sectors, including accommodation, transport and excursion, as well as marketing tourist products such as food production, handicrafts, restaurants and infrastructure related to tourist activities.
The concept is intended to ensure that everyone involved in tourism, from small vendors and food stalls to large companies, benefits from the process in a sustainable manner.
The program budget is 38.5 million dirhams. 90% of the budget is financed by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) with a 10% contribution from the Ministry of Tourism and the Moroccan Society for Tourism Engineering (SMIT).
The program will include the work of national strategic partners as well as public, private and regional associative actors invested in the tourism sector.
At the meeting, Swiss Ambassador Scheurer said that both parties have decided to focus on the Beni Mellal-Khenifra region as it is rich in natural resources and has “very well trained tourism agents” who can have a real impact on the promotion sustainable tourism.
The program is based on three pillars. Firstly, conditions should be created that are conducive to the development of sustainable tourism. Second, competitiveness and market access to certain sectors of the tourism value chain are strengthened, followed by the development of tourism skills.
The Beni Mellal-Khenifra region is undergoing great regional development in several sectors including the economy, social aspects and the important local tourism sector.
Today the US and Morocco launched an 18 million dollar program to promote regional development in the Beni Mellal-Kenifra province.
Together with Wilaya and the regional council of the region, the US Agency for International Development launched this program with the aim of creating economic opportunities for women, young people, people with special needs and rural populations.
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