MARRAKESH, May 18 — Moroccan snake-charmer Youssef watched as long-absent tourists again thronged Marrakesh’s famous Jamaa El-Fna square, ending a long pause forced by the Covid pandemic.The ancient southern city, famous for its views of graceful red buildings set against palm trees and snow-capped mountains, has long drawn visitors including celebrities from Madonna to Yves Saint Laurent.
Tourism — which accounts for some seven per cent of Morocco’s economy and creates hundreds of thousands of formal and informal jobs — was battered by Morocco’s tight restrictions during the pandemic. “We’re not back to pre-pandemic levels but the situation has been improving over the past month,” said salesman Abdellah Bouazri, after serving an Argentinian customer in a Boca Juniors football top.
But he said he was optimistic about the future: “It has been hard, but today I’m delighted to be going back to my real job.”Morocco this week reopened land borders with the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, two years after they were shut due to Covid and a major diplomatic row. According to the tourism ministry, Morocco last year earned some €3.2 billion in tourism revenue — less than half the figure for the year before the pandemic.
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