Tourism in the Beni Mellal Khenifra region: a call to action

Facing reality to move forward

It is time to face the uncomfortable realities in order to make progress. Today, I am choosing to shed light on issues that many prefer to ignore, hoping that these words will elicit reactions.

Before charting our path into the future, it's essential to pause and honestly assess where we are. Before filling out PowerPoint presentations and roadmaps that are too often forgotten on computers — it is imperative to draw up a sincere inventory of what has been achieved, and especially of what remains to be done.

The major absentees in tourist decisions

It is unfortunate to note the obvious absence, during all official meetings, key players in tourism:
guides, tourist accommodations and carriers.

Where are those who experience the realities of the field on a daily basis?
Those who have an intimate knowledge of the issues and are able to identify the real gaps that need to be filled for real and sustainable tourism development?

Sustainable tourism or greenwashing?

The discourse on sustainable tourism in our region too often sounds empty and is part of a Greenwashing on a large scale.

How can you defend a vision of sustainable development when current practices do not reflect it in any way?
Tourists are increasingly aware of socio-environmental issues and quickly perceive the incoherence between discourse and the reality on the ground.

Tourism renovation without ecological transition

At the national and regional levels, Morocco has devoted large budgets to the renovation of tourist accommodations after the Covid crisis.
But in a context of climate change and the scarcity of resources (water, electricity), what amounts and actions have really been devoted to:

• the energy renovation of accommodations,
• energy savings (solar, insulation),
• the fight against water leaks,
• rational irrigation management,
• reducing water consumption?

Unfortunately the answer seems to be A desolating zero.

An impending water emergency

In the very near future, we will be facing crucial choices:
should we give priority to water for the local population or for tourists?

Actions must be taken In emergency in order to avoid a major crisis that would permanently damage Morocco's image.

Governance and conflicts of interest within the CRT

Today, the Beni Mellal-Khénifra Regional Tourism Council seems to be used for purely personal purposes.
A single structure concentrates all the events organized by the CRT (meetings, workshops, eductours...), and all the often artisanal communication revolves around this same entity.

Ce obvious conflict of interest hampers the development and influence of regional tourism.
How long will this situation continue?

An institution disconnected from the field

The Beni Mellal-Khénifra CRT seems largely disconnected:

• the concerns of professionals,
• national and international tourism issues,
• realities experienced on the ground.

Meetings and general assemblies are held in the shadows, far from the actors concerned.
Even if the results sometimes seem to be known in advance, the simple convening of all professionals, regardless of the elections, should be a minimum in 2024.

Outdated communication and lack of vision

On the ground, the lack of coordinated actions is obvious.
Paper brochures, remnants of a bygone era, are no longer enough to effectively promote the region.

Communication tools — websites, social networks — seem frozen in time, far from reflecting:

• the real potential of the territory,
• the constraints of current tourist competition.

An underrepresented region

The Beni Mellal-Khénifra region, as vast as a country in the European Union, deserves a Regional Tourism Center representative of all local professionals.

It is absurd to see representatives on trade fair stands who do not really know the region.
Despite significant resources, the CRT cannot even compete with a small tourist office in a village of 1,500 inhabitants in the French or Swiss Alps.

The M'Goun Geopark: a potential outage

The M'Goun Geopark, which is supposed to be a driver of socio-economic development, now seems paralyzed, taken hostage by dark and political interests.

The meetings take place far from professionals and civil society, while the only visible achievements on the ground are metal panels rapidly degraded by the sun, to be renewed every six months.

For some, the Geopark has become a simple pretext for trips abroad financed by public money.

Give priority to action over speech

I am aware of the difficulties of working together in Morocco.
But I am still convinced that action on the ground, however modest it may be, is better than sterile debates locked up in meeting rooms.

I am a man of action.
My criticisms are not aimed at individuals or institutions, but reflect a genuine desire to see our region and our country progress.

Act now, together

In all sectors, development is based on:

• innovative ideas,
• an unwavering will,
• ethical governance.

Personal interests have no place in public action.

I prefer a man of action, even clumsy, to a man of his word.
Because something always comes from action, while speeches often leave only fleeting memories.

Development is a story of ideas living, evolving and above all agile ideas.

It is urgent to act together, starting today, to build sustainable and prosperous local tourism that lives up to the potential of our region and the expectations of its inhabitants.