Study and assistance to the implementation of a device of accompaniment for the actors of the tourism in the application of sustainable development

The Moroccan Tourism Sector

Tourism constitutes one of the major activities of the Moroccan economy. Indeed, in 2009, the number of international tourists' arrivals amounted to 8,3 millions: a 5,55 % increase with regard to the previous year. To continue making the tourism one of the engines of the economic, social and cultural development of Morocco, the " Vision 2020 ", presented on November 30th, 2010 in front of His Majesty the King Mohammed VI, was conceived to emphasize each of the regions of Morocco. This Vision comes to perpetuate the realizations of the Vision 2010 and to give a new boost to the sector of the tourism. It settles as objective to double the size of the tourist sector, so hoisting the Kingdom among the first 20 world tourist destinations.

Context

The development strategy organized by Morocco allowed positioning the sector of tourism as the economic locomotive of the country. However, the sector (administration and professionals) remain aware that in order to push this situation forward an orientation toward sustainability in the whole of the services offered to the customers throughout the chain of tourist value is needed. This issue of sustainability considered as a lever of differentiation and of positioning for the Moroccan touristic destination sees itself strengthened as the sector gets ready to launch the implementation of the “Vision 2020” a new strategy of development for the decade to come. In this context, the Department of Tourism (DT) launched a consultation for a study and assistance to the implementation of a device of accompaniment for the actors of the tourism in the application of sustainable development (SD) principles). Sustainable Business Associates (sba) was appointed to take care of the execution of this study. This last one articulates around two phases preceded by a preliminary phase of centring allowing to finalize the approach of the study, its methodology and its schedule. The phase I of the project concerns the definition of needs in accompaniment of the actors (and their partners) and the conception of a didactic device adapted to an approach of sustainable tourism (SD). The phase II concerns the implementation of the device of accompaniment.

Objectives

• To identify the needs of the target actors (beneficiaries) of the tourism and their main partners, in terms of skills to be developed in the field of the SD
• To upport the understanding of the stakes in the SD of the Vision 2020 and the development of synergies to implement the objectives of the new strategy of tourist development
• To conceive and implement a device of accompaniment adapted to the requirements of the target actors

Target of the project

The targets of the project have quite a link, direct or indirect, in the implementation of the various axes of the Vision 2020 either in intern (DT and its external services) or in extern (other departments and professionals of the sector whose missions contribute to the development of SD). These targets also include institutional and socioeconomic actors, according to actors' panel identified, involved in the local and sustainable development.

Phase 1 | Definition of needs in accompaniment of the actors (and their partners) and conception of an adapted didactic device

The first phase of the study allows to identify the target actors of the tourism sector (beneficiaries of the project), to clarify their needs in skills to be developed in the field of the SD and to conceive a device of accompaniment adapted to their requirements.

To do this, participative approaches of data collection (framework meetings, prospecting, one-sided meetings (one-to-one) and multilateral (group focus), pattern and adapted survey, etc.) are adopted to involve completely the target actors and stay in connection with the realities and the needs of the sector of the Moroccan tourism. The consolidation of the results from this phase is realized through a brief cartography of the needs of the target actors which articulates around various matrices (matrix of needs, matrix of the interactions between actors and matrix of the roles of the actors towards the life cycle of produced tourist). All the information and the collected data will serve, afterward, as a base and a guideline for the conception of a device of accompaniment adapted to the needs and the specificities of the groups and the subgroups of target actors.

Phase 2 | Implementation of the support system

The second phase of the study consists of the implementation of the device developed and validated during the phase I. The defined activities, their technical and practical tools as well as the attributed resources will allow crossing from the concept to the action on the ground. It is to note that the activities developed and realized within the framework of the device of accompaniment will be the object of a regular monitoring to estimate the realizations and direct them possibly for a better centring of the expected objectives.

Context

The tourist performances on the international plan (25th world rank in the term of year 2010), as well as the importance taken by the sector within the Moroccan economy for ten years (1st contributor in the balance of payments, second contributor in the national GDP and second creator of jobs), ensue directly from the political wish to set up the tourism first and foremost national. Considering these experiences, considering its natural assets opportunities offered by the new tendencies of the tourism world, and considering the device of piloting and accompaniment which it plans to implement, Morocco can feed new ambitions for the development of its tourist sector today.

• Actions towards a sustainable tourism | Set up a device of accompaniment centred on the environmental management in the hotel sector. The objective of the project is to contribute to the intensification of the Moroccan industry of the tourism by the improvement of its environmental performances and its competitiveness at the national, regional and international level.
• Intensification of capacities and networking | Through trainers' training on the BEP, a “National Network of skills for a Sustainable Tourism” was established in Morocco. This network combines representatives of the regional delegations of tourism, the university professors as well as the environmental auditors. The knowledge and the skills of these experts will allow accompanying the Moroccan hotelkeepers in the integration of the BEP approach in their structure.
• Sessions of raising awareness and technical seminars | Sessions of raising awareness and technical seminars were organized, in May, 2009, in favour of the decision-makers and the technicians of the hotel business sector to allow the participants to master, gradually, the methodology and the custom of the BEP guide. The targeted regions were Casablanca-Rabat-El Jadida, Agadir and Ouarzazate.
• Experimental Applications on the ground | The Ministry of the Tourism decided to introduce, from mid November on 2009, a pilot phase of application in 30 voluntary establishments in various regions of the Kingdom (Agadir, El-Jadida, Fes, Meknès, Ouarzazate, Rabat, Tangier and Tétouane). The implementation of the BEP required the implication of the establishment managers as well as a person in charge of environment or the technical service as well as his team. It is to indicate that a selection of the most significant corrective measures were emphases in synthetic index forms. These practical cases will be of use for the distribution of examples of good environmental practices in hotel business to the national level. Click to see the case studies
• Distribution of the results | Co-organised and supported by the Moroccan Ministry of the Tourism, sba, François-Tourisme-Consultants, the “Ecorismo Maroc on 2010” forum took place on April 20th and 21st, 2010 in Rabat. It aimed at bringing concrete and practical answers to the questions of the professionals and to their needs in sustainable development. During this event, a session was dedicated to the success of the project of the BEP to advance the impact of the measures of eco-efficiency on the improvement of the economic performances of hotels.