Popular heritage at the service of tourism

Popular heritage is called upon to play its full role in the development of tourism. This was affirmed by participants at a conference organised on Friday, 14 June, as part of the first edition of the International Festival of Youth Popular Arts.The participants at this conference highlighted the importance of the role of heritage in sociocultural growth, in favour of tourism. "This gives it a recognised added value that tourism tries to integrate into an operating system as an object of visitation, attractiveness, and entertainment," explains Abderrazak Ben Ataya, professor of tourism and heritage at the International Higher Institute of Tourism of Tangier (ISITT), noting that "songs, dances, the halqua, the fantasia, the moussems... are linked to local habits and customs, which are all examples of valorisation developed by tourism stakeholders."The participants at this meeting agreed,…