Tourism, an opportunity and a risk for the Maghreb countries
Next to the political events that have occurred in recent months in some countries of the Maghreb and Middle East, the impact on tourism has been considerable!
Within weeks, Egypt and Tunisia have lost over 80% of their income from tourism. In Egypt, three quarters of the vessels in Upper Egypt remain in port, the hotels have experienced a drop in the same proportions. The Egyptian Destination Management Companies had to lay off half of their staff. Although the situation appears to be stabilizing, it is undeniable that, once again, Egypt will keep in mind 2011!
Fortunately, consumers’ memory tend to fade quickly and Egyptian providers hope to recover in 2012.
Regarding Tunisia, the situation is substantially different. Closer to Northern Europe, Tunisia is a lowcost destination highly dependent on tour operators. If the political situation stabilizes, we can expect a quicker return to growth at the fall of 2011. The new Minister of Tourism of Tunisia, recently interviewed by French radios, seemed relatively optimistic.
Morocco, next the attack in Marrakech, lost nearly all of its reservations in a few days. Moreover, Marrakech was already over-capacity regarding demand, with significant investments in building high-end hotels and the opening of large international hotel chains. The occupancy rate of 4 and 5 stars hotels did not exceed 40% in 2010. The opening of these new hotels in the coming months will certainly not improve the situation. The year 2011 will be a very difficult year for Morocco in general and Marrakech in particular. Last year I wrote a note to the Moroccan authorities about the development of business tourism in Marrakech. This document is available upon request by e-mail: [email protected].
I bet that the situation will improve. These serious political crises in Muslim countries are behind us and all these countries will recover a political stability and a strong rebound in tourism, of which their economy is totally dependent.