The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have pledged to support the recovery of the tourism sector across the economies where the Bank invests, including Morocco.
The worldwide lockdown resulting from the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted many sectors, with the tourism sector being Morocco’s hardest-hit.
Under these particular circumstances, the EBRD and UNWTO have agreed to take immediate joint action for a sustainable recovery of tourism. The list of countries to receive the support includes Morocco, Albania, Armenia, Croatia, Egypt, Georgia, Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Montenegro, Tunisia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.
The support will be in line with the three main pillars of the UNWTO’s Tourism Recovery Technical Assistance Package, offering guidance to the member states in response to COVID-19.
The pillars include economic recovery, marketing and promotion, as well as institutional strengthening and resilience building.
To stimulate the economic recovery, the UNWTO suggests introducing policies and measures and developing impact needs assessments and country-specific plans for the recovery of the tourism sector.
In terms of marketing and promotion, UNWTO commits to providing technical assistance to identify markets that can help accelerate recovery, address product diversification, and (re)formulate strategies for marketing, including promotional activities.
The third pillar particularly seeks to enhance public-private partnerships and promote collaboration in the process of tourism recovery. It will also work to advance crisis management and recovery skills.
The two organizations enjoy a long-standing partnership. They signed a cooperative partnership agreement in 2015, which they renewed in 2019.
The EBRD is pledging all of its efforts in 2020 and 2021 to helping its member states absorb the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a $21 billion investment targeting all sectors of the economy.
