Tourism resilience in Morocco: Courageous help after the earthquake

Change take

Intrepid Travel used its resources to bring tourism back to the High Atlas communities devastated by the September 8 earthquake.

Dawit Habtemariam

Intrepid Travel is working to bring tourism back to Moroccan villages affected by the September earthquake.

It has been more than six months since a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the city of Marrakesh and local communities in the Atlas Mountains region. The natural disaster left more than 2,900 dead, 5,500 injured, and destroyed many homes, roads, and buildings.

Since the earthquake, Intrepid has done its part to help these communities fully recover. After the earthquake, the Intrepid Foundation, the charitable arm of Intrepid Travel, quickly raised $550,000, plus $100,000 of its own money.

“This was the biggest attraction we have ever received in 35 years,” said Zeina Ben Sheikh, managing director of Middle East, Europe and Africa at Intrepid Travel.

Intrepid worked with two partners to provide emergency services to get communities back on their feet. Education for All built boarding schools for girls who lost their schools due to the earthquake. Its other partner, the High Atlas Foundation, provided shelter, food and aid to survivors.

“When the earthquake hit Morocco, and it was really bad for our business, we got hit in the middle of our center where we work,” Ben Cheikh said. “In fact, rural areas are actually the core of our operations in Morocco. Specifically, all of our tours go to rural areas.

The deep roots of intrepid travel in Morocco

Intrepid, which recently hosted Skift in Morocco for its annual company retreat, takes travelers off the beaten path with a community-based approach to tourism. To ensure this, the global organization partners with small, independent businesses to make sure income reaches the destination's grassroots level, said James Thornton, CEO of Intrepid Travel, at the Skift Global Forum in September.

Over 90% of Intrepid's guides come directly from rural Morocco.

In Morocco, the Intrepid program takes travelers out of tourist areas. Mohamed El-Bahri, Basil’s tour guide, said the company collaborates with families, locals and small businesses to give travelers authentic Moroccan experiences.

A Moroccan couple pretends to make bread in the Agafai Desert

On some tours, tourists watch and participate in bread making, stay in guesthouses, hike in the Agafay Desert and Atlas Mountains, and have dinner with locals.

“To know Moroccans, you have to go to their hearts. What is their heart? It is their home,” Bahri said.

Tourism: a vital sector for Morocco

During the week of the September 8 earthquake, flight bookings for Morocco fell by 35%, according to ForwardKeys. Bookings remained down 22% during the three weeks following the earthquake.

Siham Fatouhi, director of the Moroccan Tourism Office in the United States and Canada, said in October that tourism has become a major industry in the Moroccan economy, having captured a larger share of job opportunities.

Tourism represented 16% of Morocco’s total exports in 2022, according to the United Nations Tourism. As a share of services exports only, it constituted 45%.

Send recovery message

To help its communities, Intrepid leveraged its brand name, scale and resources to emphasize that Morocco remains open to tourism.

One of the risks of natural disasters to a destination is that tourists can wrongly assume that the entire destination has been hit – and that they should not visit out of respect for the affected communities or because some attractions are closed.

Intrepid conducted a public relations campaign on behalf of Morocco.

Intrepid has resumed tours in some affected areas once its routes are open again. On December 1, Intrepid returned to the village of Imlil, which had been without electricity due to damaged roads.

“It was very fast because we really needed to send a strong message and make sure that our communities would not suffer a double impact from this devastating earthquake,” Bin Al-Sheikh said.

The fact that major international events in Marrakesh continued as scheduled sent a strong message. In October, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund held their annual meeting in Marrakesh. The meeting was attended by more than 14 thousand participants.

In the first 11 months of 2023, Morocco received 13.2 million tourists, surpassing its 2019 level of 12.9 million, Morocco International reported.

Atlas communities continue to rebuild

While tourism continues to flow back into many of the affected villages, many survivors are still recovering. Some do not want to leave their communities, and are staying in tents while waiting for their new homes to be built.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos