Morocco Travel Information

From our special correspondent in Paris, Malika ALAMI

One hundred participants in the Paris edition

Boussaid Addou and are promoting Morocco trourism

A communication campaign will be launched in Europe

Tourism professionals were many strengths to make the journey to Paris from 16 to 19 September to attend the first edition of the Parisian salon Top Resa. One hundred people were there. Among them, representatives of regional tourism in Agadir, Marrakech, Fez, Rabat and others. Alongside the operators, there were Mohamed Boussaid, Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts, and Abdelhamid Addou, Director General of the Moroccan National Tourist Office (MNTO), to meet with leaders of the tourism sector in France. It was also to receive stand Morocco Herve Novelli, Secretary of State for Tourism. The French head during his tour of the exhibition was particularly focused on the Moroccan flag.
The 2008 edition of Top Resa is also a special character. Indeed, the event held for nearly three decades in Deauville, this time celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. It takes this opportunity to a new concept to extend the appointment to all players in the profession.
The lounge B2B leader of the tourism industry becomes a living programming for the French market. As the Moroccan players they could not miss the rendezvous, especially in the current economic context. The first source market of the destination Morocco
one third of foreign visitors is French-kingdom is marked this year by a downward trend in the number of nights. Indeed, in late July 2008, the decline in overnight stays registered by the French market on Morocco was -8.5% compared to the same period in 2007. Paradoxically the number of arrivals of French visitors rose by 7% at end-July 2008 compared to the first seven months of 2007, with over one million tourists. This leaves confident Mohamed Boussaid. "Especially as the total revenue generated by the activity up to end July 2008 compared to the same period last year," he says. Abdelhamid Addou is also optimistic. For him, the decline in stays of French tourists on Morocco can not be explained solely by any delay in the development of the coastal Agadir, for example. Although this city for Morocco is the first destination of the French market, with Marrakesh. In his view, the causes of the current situation are in close contact with the downward trend in travel packages through tour operators. This parallel with the rise of independent travel often to new products such as guest houses and many riads unclassified. In this context, one can of course argue that the figures do not really reflect reality and fall short of actual achievements. DG of MNTO also highlights the decline in the average length of stay and increase the number of linked short stays including the supply of airline seats low cost. In this context, Georges Colson, chairman of SNAV (national organization of travel professionals), said that the consumer stays but shortens its journey more often. The operator also emphasizes the important dynamic sales last minute, including on the Internet. This is the face of this phenomenon coupled with changes in the airline following the opening of the sky that professional French and Moroccan institutional "have experienced a moment of doubt about the evolution of Hexagone market in the destination Morocco, "Judge Rene-Marc Chikli, president of the association of tour operators in France (Ceto). According to him, the French tour operators have recorded a resurgence of activity last August. What will happen in the coming months? What is certain is that the tourism industry is not immune to the purchasing power of French-mast, said Colson. According to a recent study, nearly half of French is not a holiday party last year for lack of money. Therefore remain vigilant, Abderrahim Oummani launches, president of the Regional Tourism Agadir. He must pay attention to different regions of France and not confine itself to the promotion of the destination Morocco only on the Ile-de-France. To boost activity on the destination, the professional considering the invitation in the coming months than 2,000 travel agents across several French éductours. Also on the program an awareness among hoteliers for the use of information technology to boost sales.
For its part Addou announced in October 2008 a new communication campaign on the European market with a new creative concept for the general public. This will be followed by a new line showcase of Morocco on the Net. An Internet portal that will guide each visitor to an offer for its profile, said the manager.

Appointments

The dates of the next Top Resa are already set. The event will take place from 22 to 25 September 2009. For the occasion, the event will adopt a new name. It will be renamed International French Top Resa Travel Market (IFTM). Reed Exhibitions France, organizer of the meeting is as large in terms of area. It will increase to 43,000 m2 in 2009 on two flags instead of 27,200 m2 this year.

Repositioning

For the first Parisian edition of Top Resa, the MNTO innovated in terms of image. Moroccan exhibitors were pleasantly surprised by the architecture of the stand and its design.
Covering an area of 350 m2, space symbolizes the movement in Morocco and multifaceted. The stand was thus around three worlds which are the product Morocco, namely the "break" the resort "and" off track ". The goal is to mark the positioning of the destination to meet the new trend of demand.
Morocco's participation in Top Resa 2008 also saw the award ceremony to travel agencies winners, selected from among the 1500 competitors who participated in the best seller challenge of Morocco. It was within the framework of Operation "Experts from Morocco" between March 10 and 10 June 2008 throughout France.

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