Famous Moroccan Ksar Aït Ben Haddou village, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been selected by UNESCO and the TUI Care Foundation for a new global partnership aimed at promoting sustainable tourism development and contributing to heritage preservation while generating long-term benefits for local communities.
UNESCO and the TUI Care Foundation have joined efforts to boost sustainable tourism in and around UNESCO World Heritage destinations, supporting local communities, safeguarding cultural heritage and promoting more inclusive and responsible tourism development.
In Morocco, UNESCO and the TUI Care Foundation pledged to support sustainable tourism development around Ksar Aït Ben Haddou, one of the country’s most iconic cultural landmarks.
The initiative aims to encourage longer stays, strengthen opportunities for local artisans and tourism businesses, and develop new cultural tourism experiences rooted in local heritage and traditions. Training for local guides and entrepreneurs, new cultural routes and storytelling and digital interpretation tools will support deeper engagement between visitors and the destination’s living heritage, with particular attention given to women and young people.
Tourism can create economic opportunities and strengthen connections between people and places. At the same time, increasing visitor flows place growing pressure on many heritage destinations around the world, affecting local communities, cultural traditions and natural environments.
“Sustainable tourism must benefit the communities who safeguard our World Heritage and sustain its living traditions,” said Director of Partnerships at UNESCO.
“This partnership is about working with the private sector to shape tourism more responsibly, ensuring that economic activity supports heritage protection and translates into meaningful opportunities for local communities,” he added.
Located in the foothills on the southern slopes of the High Atlas in the Province of Ouarzazate, the site of Ait-Ben-Haddou is the most famous ksar in the Ounila Valley. The Ksar of Aït-Ben-Haddou is a striking example of southern Moroccan architecture. The ksar is a mainly collective grouping of dwellings. Inside the defensive walls which are reinforced by angle towers and pierced with a baffle gate, houses crowd together – some modest, others resembling small urban castles with their high angle towers and upper sections decorated with motifs in clay brick – but there are also buildings and community areas.
The site was also one of the many trading posts on the commercial route linking ancient Sudan to Marrakesh by the Dra Valley and the Tizi-n’Telouet Pass. Its remarkably preserved mudbrick walls have made it a major filming location for epics like “Gladiator”, “Kingdom of Heaven”, and the TV series “Game of Thrones”.
