After the announcements of the emergency plan for the Moroccan tourism industry, the concrete work can begin. The line ministry is putting in place its support mechanisms. And the good news is that all sectors are now concerned by the government assistance (hoteliers, transporters, tour operators, and classified restaurant owners), reads a ministerial note. The employees of these four sectors will benefit from a lump sum compensation while tourism companies will be entitled to a moratorium on bank loans. Indeed, as part of this support mechanism decided by the Government, banks grant a moratorium on maturities of medium- and long-term bank loans (including «Damane Oxygen Amortissable», «Damane Relance», and «Damane Relance Hôtellerie») for a period of up to one year ranging from January 01, 2022 to December 31, 2022. The deferred maturities are postponed to the end of the initially agreed loan period. The borrowing costs linked to the said deferral are taken care of by the Government for up to 9.5 months. It should be noted that people interested in this protocol will have to come forward before the end of March in order to benefit from this moratorium. Another measure much awaited by tourist accommodation establishments is the hospitality assistance fund.
This project is well underway. It is the financial arm of the line ministry, the Moroccan Tourism Investment Company (SMIT) which is in charge. The support, which aims to improve the quality of the tourism offering, will be based on a program of renovation, maintenance, training, or digital transformation. As announced by L’Economiste (See issue No. 6188 of January 31, 2022), the subsidy granted is in the order of 10% of the turnover achieved in 2019, the baseline, and capped at 10 million MAD (circa 1 million USDs) per entity. According to the SMIT, calls for expressions of interest (CEI) will be launched shortly for the selection of tourist accommodation establishments wishing to receive support from the Government. These CEIs will specify the nature of projects that may be eligible. On the basis of these CEIs, the interested tourist accommodation establishments will submit their applications for support to the regional office of the Ministry of Tourism concerned, which will review them before submitting them to the SMIT for processing and payment. It should be noted that as soon as the contracts are signed, the Government undertakes to pay the first instalment. The remainder will be given at the end of the construction works and after a validation report. As a reminder, the Ministry of Tourism announced in January an emergency plan for tourism which includes, among other things, a subsidy to the hotel industry of a total amount of 1 billion MAD (about 106 million USDs), and the extension of the payment of the lump sum of 2,000 MAD (214 USDs) during the first quarter of 2022, for all employees of the tourism sector, tourist transport companies, and classified restaurants, as well as the deferral of charges due to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) for 6 months for these same employees. Professionals were waiting for the implementation of these mechanisms which was announced yesterday by the SMIT.
Badra BERRISSOULE
