Morocco and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) signed a letter of intent on Wednesday in Rabat to hold the 24th session of the UNWTO General Assembly in Marrakech, Morocco in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Signed by the Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts, Air Transport and Social Economy, Ms. Nadia Fettah and the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, signed on Wednesday in Rabat, this document gives a strong signal and a message of hope to the international tourism community and to Moroccan tourism operators in particular, especially since it coincides with the start of vaccination campaigns around the world.
During this ceremony, the Moroccan Minister of Tourism indicated that the Kingdom is proud and honored to bring together the great family of tourism in Marrakech in 2021, on the occasion of the holding of the 24th session of the General Assembly of the OMT, by emphasizing the total mobilization of its department in concert with the stakeholders concerned for the smooth running of this global tourist event.
She underlined that the tourism sector in Morocco, like other countries around the world, benefited from a program contract which was signed on August 6, 2020 as well as an amendment signed on January 6, 2021 and which has made it possible to support this sector hard hit by this unprecedented pandemic which has spared no destination around the world.
The Minister also highlighted Morocco's active contribution to UNWTO initiatives relating to training and education, including in particular the work of the UNWTO Committee for on-line training in the Tourism sector "Tourism Online Education ”Knowing that Morocco constitutes alongside Kenya, a member representing the African continent, within this committee, given its important role in hotel and tourism training.
She also recalled that Morocco was one of the first countries on the continental level to launch its vaccination campaign on January 28, 2021, a campaign which takes place in a climate of mobilization of all components of society and of which the first the results are very encouraging.
For his part, the Secretary General of the UNWTO, who is making his first official visit to Morocco, highlighted the privileged relations of cooperation between the Kingdom and the UNWTO in the tourism sector.
According to him, the next General Assembly of the UNWTO that Morocco will host in 2021 will be historic and that the UNWTO will spare no effort to make it one of the most successful post-pandemic events, specifying that the meeting in Marrakech will be an opportunity to discuss the future of the tourism sector hard hit by the health crisis, and which member states of the organization and representatives of the private sector will be invited to respond.
He also stressed that Morocco is an excellent destination to promote and a model in the tourism sector, highlighting the Kingdom's great experience in the field of tourism.
This working session held between the UNWTO delegation and its Moroccan counterpart was also an opportunity to discuss the state of the tourism sector in Morocco and in the world in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
Morocco was elected at the 22nd Session of the said Assembly held in September 2019 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, with a total of 74 votes against respectively 17 and 11 for Kenya and the Philippines, recalls- your.
Source: apanews.net