Invited to the first edition of "La Saharienne", a women's solidarity sports raid organised in Dakhla recently, the Minister of Tourism, Lahcen Haddad, took the opportunity to meet with operators in the tourism sector and members of the board of the brand-new CRT. During this meeting, the Minister stated: "Today, we really want to make Dakhla an exclusive destination of international reach, oriented towards sport and nature", adding that this desire to boost Dakhla will materialise on 4 March with a special flight organised from Paris to Dakhla, for which a good number of travel influencers are invited, including some important tour operators and specialised media.

The Minister thus specified that the “Dakhla Attitude” resort (about 35 km from the city of Dakhla) is a sport and nature destination to which his department will grant particular attention. The construction of an Eco Resort is also in preparation.

This project will offer visitors a luxurious and environmentally friendly setting, with accommodation, catering, and entertainment infrastructures focused on the theme of the desert. The final objective of the Ministry is to increase from the current capacity estimated at more or less 800 beds to nearly 4,000 beds, in order to accompany the rise in tourist arrivals in Dakhla.

The strengthening of air service is therefore also on the programme so that Dakhla “serves as a locomotive for tourism and sustainable development in the entire region”.

Lahcen Haddad noted, moreover, that the preservation of the Sahrawi ecosystem and culture that characterises the region and its environment must be everyone's objective. He also added, "it is inadmissible to dig into a hill or divert a wadi to build structures", stressing that while concrete constructions may be authorised on the Atlantic side, they cannot be tolerated in the vicinity of the lagoon, whose landscape must be preserved at all costs.

Before congratulating them, the Minister asked the new team at the head of the CRT to redouble their efforts to promote the Dakhla destination, indicating that he has never seen the Dakhla CRT at the many international tourism fairs, whether in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, or elsewhere. He also noted that the CRT must equip itself with an active management where foreign languages other than French are spoken, and that his department and the ONMT are prepared to support this management, within the limits of their availability. On another note, Haddad indicated that his department is considering the possibility of opening a direct Paris-Dakhla air route. Also, some local tour operators asked him to intervene with RAM for the opening of a Dakhla-Marrakech line in addition to the daily Casa-Dakhla flights and the 4 weekly Dakhla-Agadir flights.