Productive Sectors Committee Evaluates the Impacts of Coronavirus and the Measures Taken to Mitigate Them
The Productive Sectors Committee under the House of Representatives held a meeting on Monday, May 4th, 2020. The meeting was chaired the Committee’s Chairperson, Said Chbaatou and attended by Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicraft, and Social Economy Nadia Fettah Alaoui. The meeting was devoted to discussing the topics emanating from parliamentary groups, relating to the impacts of the spread of Coronavirus, and the measures that were taken to mitigate them.
The Minister pointed out in her statement that the Ministry has adopted an action plan to revive tourism. In this respect, the Ministry has been working on a monitoring and data collection system. The Ministry will analyze the collected data, and reports on it will be submitted to the Economic Monitoring Committee.
The Minister also noted that the Economic Monitoring Committee is aware that the tourism and air transport sectors require support to avoid the bankruptcy of tourism businesses and to preserve jobs, considering that these two sectors are severely affected by the pandemic.
The Minister added that the key to overcoming this crisis starts by promoting domestic tourism, increasing efforts to advance the air transport sector, launching digital promotional campaigns, and supporting professionals to access digital media. The situation also requires providing means for the gradual recovery of the sector, increasing the competitiveness of the Kingdom, and utilizing Morocco’s reputation to attract tourists after lifting the state of public health emergency.
Besides, the Minister pointed out that the Ministry of Tourism, Handicrafts, Air Transport, and Social Economy is working on generalizing healthcare for tour guides. It is also working on developing a digital solution to assess the competence of guides, and on consolidating the legal mechanisms for the protection of artisans.
On this occasion, the members of the Productive Sectors Committee, representing parliamentary groups, paid tribute and expressed their gratitude to the medical staff and the various actors working on the front lines to limit the spread of Coronavirus. They also complimented tourism professionals and hotel owners who booked hotel units to accommodate nursing staff and cured patients.
The participants also commended the efforts made by the Ministry in favor of tourism businesses, including Government Bill 30.20 enacting special provisions on the contracts relating to travel and tourist stay, and on the contracts concerning air transportation of passengers.
Besides, the deputies called for developing the “Damane oxygène” program, considering that tourism businesses are different in nature, in addition to providing a legislative framework to promote the sector. They also requested the inclusion of the banking sector as a partner for tourism businesses in the development of tangible solutions to help revive the sector after the end of the state of emergency.
Also, the members of the Committee suggested the encouragement of reservations via national digital mechanisms, the diversification of internal tourism offers, and encouraging Moroccan tourists to use local tourism products. They also urged to pay particular attention to the handicraft sector to protect it from problems that could negatively impact its productivity due to the vulnerable nature of the social groups to which the majority of workers in this sector belong.