Morocco, China set to boost cooperation in tourism & cultural sectors

Morocco and China have a shared desire to boost their cooperation in the sector of tourism. Ways of strengthening this tourism cooperation were discussed at a meeting in Rabat Thursday by visiting Chinese Vice-Minister of Culture and Tourism, Quan Rao, and Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Fatim-Zahra Ammor.

The two sides stressed the importance of cooperation ties and strategic partnership between Morocco and China, and expressed their desire to further develop tourism cooperation, the Ministry of Tourism said in a press release.

During these talks, the Chinese Vice-Minister recalled Morocco’s growing appeal as a destination for Chinese tourists, pointing out that new air links between the two countries could boost tourist flows between the two destinations.

For her part, Ammor expressed her desire to further promote Chinese tourism investment in Morocco, thus accompanying the momentum gained by Morocco, particularly in anticipation of major sporting events to be hosted by the Kingdom.

She also called on Chinese tour operators to integrate Morocco more fully into their programming, to enable Chinese tourists to discover the country’s diverse tourism assets, including culture, desert, and seaside resorts.

In this context, the organization of missions to China has been proposed to promote Morocco to potential investors and major tour operators, according to the press release.

The two sides convened to consider setting up a work group tasked with following up the recommendations made during this meeting.
In a bid to promote tourism between the two countries, Morocco’s flag carrier RAM is considering reopening direct flights between Casablanca and Beijing, after a four-year pause that started with the outbreak of Covid 19.

RAM would reportedly relaunch direct Morocco-China flights in early 2025.

Direct flights would encourage Chinese tourists to visit the Kingdom. The number of Chinese tourists increased from about 15,000 annually to 132,000 in 2018, after Morocco canceled visa requirements for Chinese nationals in 2015.

Last year, the Chinese arrivals began gradually recovering from the Covid-19 impact to stand at 59,000. Morocco hopes to welcome some 500,000 Chinese tourists a year, who on average spend twice as much during their trips as American tourists.

China is the world’s largest tourism emitting market with over 130 million tourists traveling abroad for holidays annually.

The Chinese Vice-Minister of Culture and Tourism Rao Quan also held talks with Minister of Youth and Culture Mohammed Mehdi Bensaid on ways of strengthening cultural cooperation between the two countries, through joint initiatives in the sectors of cinema, cultural industries, and the video game industry.

In this connection, the two parties signed the Executive Program for Cultural Cooperation 2024-2028, aimed at promoting cultural exchanges, encouraging bilateral visits and creating cooperation initiatives and frameworks.

The program also covers strengthening of coordination and cooperation at the level of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the exchange of expertise, and continuous training.