Sunday, December 27, 2020
Elder of Ziyon
Nadia Fatah Alawi, Morocco's tourism minister, is the most senior woman in the Moroccan government. She told Yediot Aharonot, "I have heard that all Israelis travel to Dubai since you signed a peace agreement with the United Arab Emirates. Honestly, I am not surprised at all. But there is no doubt that there is a challenge here for me - to put Morocco at the top of the list of destinations Israeli tourists desire, and I accept the challenge."
According to Alawi, even before the normalization agreement between Israel and Morocco, 50,000 Israelis visited Morocco every year. "Most of them came to visit relatives who live here, to visit their ancestors' cemeteries and tombs of the righteous. Now, with an official agreement and direct flights, our ambition is very great - I want and believe we will reach 200,000 Israelis every year."
And she doesn't want to limit it to Israelis whose ancestors lived in Morocco. "I also include Israelis of non-Moroccan descent. Those who do not know our country are going to fall in love with it. I want to offer Israelis several vacations instead of one vacation. When you visit Morocco, you have the opportunity to experience a number of very different styles of tourism. Beyond Jewish cultural and historical cities, I want to offer magical beaches, extensive ecotourism with huge and beautiful deserts, golf clubs, nightlife. We want to make you visit here again and again - not just once."
Until now, Israelis could travel to Morocco in organized groups, through a flight connection in another country. Soon, there will be direct flights, albeit with a small detour to avoid flying over Algerian and Tunisian airspace. Both those nations have bragged that they did not allow the maiden El Al Flight to Morocco to fly over their lands.
