Fès on the way to becoming the 2nd international cultural destination in Morocco

Major projects, mobilising investments of nearly 8 billion DH, are due to see the light of day soon in Fès to diversify the city's tourist offer and make it the second international cultural destination in Morocco, after Marrakech. A total of 29 projects have been decided upon within the framework of a programme contract signed last March, which will offer an additional bed capacity of 13,000 beds, thus allowing Fès to welcome 1.1 million tourists by 2020 and generate tourism revenue of around 11.7 billion DH. On the social level, the contribution of these projects is undeniable with the planned creation of more than 45,000 additional jobs, rising from 32,800 currently to more than 78,000 by 2020. This programme contract, a sort of roadmap for tourism development, will capitalise on the exceptional cultural, historical and civilisational heritage of the city of Fès. The positioning of the region will henceforth be articulated mainly around experiential culture and tangible heritage, notably through a programme aimed at enhancing cultural identity, encouraging spiritual and festival tourism and setting up coherent and attractive tourism products. According to the Minister of Tourism, Lahcen Haddad, it is a question of creating a rich and complementary entertainment offer and infrastructure allowing the hosting of major international events and creating synergies with the sports and wellness, entertainment and culture segments. These projects will be implemented in the various prefectures and provinces of the region, including 12 in Fès, 11 in Sefrou and 4 in Moulay Yacoub, and will target niches such as the enhancement of heritage and legacy, entertainment, sports, leisure and the environment. This involves in particular the creation of an interpretation centre for the heritage of the Medina of Fès, an ethnographic museum in Sefrou, the development of a spirituality trail and the restoration of Medersas and Foundouks. Three major projects are planned, namely the development of wellness activities in the Medina (50 MDH), the redevelopment and enrichment of the Moulay Yacoub thermal station (500 MDH) and the enhancement of the Ain Allah thermal centre (44.11 MDH). The private sector has also committed to building eco-tourism accommodation structures in Boulemane (72.8 MDH), the setting up of a stopover gîte (1.3 MDH), a refuge (1.2 MDH) and a guest house (1.5 MDH) in the Aouglit-Bouiblane corridor, the promotion of local products in the Sefrou province (2.5 MDH) and the setting up of exhibition shops (1.6 MDH) and eco-tourism orientation kiosks (1.2 MDH), also in this corridor with great natural and tourist potential. To support the implementation of this strategy and support the objectives in terms of arrivals by 2020, air service will be strengthened to reach 231 weekly frequencies. The old Medina of Fès occupies a place of choice in the mechanism for implementing this programme given its strong historical and cultural weight. And to strengthen its attractiveness to foreign tourists in particular, the Medina has been equipped with a series of directional, informative and interpretation tourist signage panels, a structuring project financed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). For the officials of the Ministry of Handicrafts, this signage has the main objective of supporting local tourism activity focused on the cultural segment and highlighting the different facets of the city's heritage. In addition to the programme contract and tourist circuits, the tourism sector should reap the dividends of the National Handicraft Label, intended to promote quality and excellence in this sector. This project, which is part of a vast programme financed by the MCC, is considered an essential pillar of the project to develop the sector's competitiveness and sustain its productivity. The timely implementation of all these structuring projects is likely to give a boost to this sector which shapes economic activity in Fès and supports thousands of people there.

Provider / Source : MAP, Aujourdhui.ma