Morocco Bets for Eco-Tourism Sustainability
Afagay desert landscape. Photo: Best of Marrakech
September 2, 2024 Hour: 3:47 pm
In June, Morocco’s tourism Minister Fatim-Zahra Ammor announced that sustainability is a paramount focus for the country’s tourism sector and in this regard, the sector is slowly expanding in the Arab country.
RELATED:
International Tourism to Venezuela Triples in the First Half of 2024
According to the Tourism Ministry, only in the first hal of June, the country received 17.6 million tourists, with ecotourism accounting for 5% of this number.
In the Agafay desert region, which is approximately 35 kilometres from Marrakech, the eco-torism is taking special force, with camel ride like a maine atractive for foreigners. There is where go around 3% of the ecotourists.
One of the region’s first eco-tourism projects was Kasbah Agafay Hotel and Spa – a traditional-style Kasbah, offering guests the opportunity to soak in the local culture through various activities.
The owner of the Hotel, Abdessalam Damoussi bought the centuries old stone house in 1996 and spent four years renovating it as sustainably as possible using only local resorces.
“I have relied on a book written by a friend of mine, Prince Sultan bin Salman, who wrote an extraordinary book called ‘Back to Earth,’ and this was like my instrument that I used to do this work, I studied it, I did research, and in it, he really goes profoundly on why man should be back to Earth,” Damoussi said.
Damoussi receives around 5,000 tourists from all over the world per year, showing them how to embrace and preserve the natural environment surrounding them.
Moving forward to preserve the enviroment, Marocco leads the global efforts to protect the Oases ecosystems, highlighting the importance of those.
Through the Sustainable Oasis Initiative program, the country enhances the importance of oases, as they are unique ecosystems that house specific agricultural products and spaces with different natural, cultural and urban heritage.
The Oasis of Fint, Oasis de Tafilalet and Oasis of the Draa Valley stand out as important ecological destinations, which are green explosions in the middle of the desert and allow the visitor to know the fauna and flora of these characteristic ecosystems.
Autor: OSG
Fuente: Africanews - Atalayar - AP