Rabat – The Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) has announced the launch of a campaign that recognizes and appreciates professionals in the tourism industry.

The campaign has been launched to pay tribute to tourism workers on the World Tourism Day, celebrated today, September 27.

ONMT described its campaign as “unprecedented,” in light of COVID-19’s impact on workers in the tourism industry.

“For the ONMT, it was important to pay tribute to these women and men who are the guarantors of the customer experience and who therefore help to promote” the tourism sector in Morocco.

For ONMT, the campaign was designed to recognize and commemorate the efforts of tourism workers amid the crisis.

“This recognition is all the more important in this difficult period that tourism operators are going through at all levels of the value scale,” General Director of ONMT Adel El Fakir said.

He said that the visual campaign is carrying a “strong message” to pay tribute to the actors in the tourism industry.

The Director-General and the central directors of the ONMT also shared messages of appreciation  to workers in the sector, commending them for their contribution to Morocco’s influence as “guardians of the legendary hospitality of Morocco and the guarantors of its know-how.”

ONMT described the campaign as the first of its kind that recognized professionals in the tourism industry, as opposed to only tourists.

Tourism is key to Morocco’s economy. The sector contributes to the country’s GDP by 11%.

The industry experienced a crisis due to COVID-19 impacts. There has been an improvement in the industry after several months of crisis due to the pandemic, lockdown, and border closures.

New data from Morocco’s Department of Studies and Financial Forecasts (DEPF) said that the gradual reopening of borders beginning June 15 helped the sector this summer.

DEPF said the tourism revenues increased by 90.1% from June to July after a 77% decline from the same period last year.

The figure represents an increase of 15.2% during the month of June and 144.2% during the month of July in 2021.

The data said that 341,000 travelers arrived in the North African country in June, compared with 6,600 arrivals in June 2020.