Representatives of foreign tour operators carried out a prospecting visit to the Guelmim-Smara region to discover the oasis tourism potential offered by the region and to explore the reception and accommodation capacities likely to promote the marketing of this tourist destination.

This three-day visit is part of the Southern Oasis Programme (POS), initiated by the Agency for the Promotion and Development of the Southern Provinces of the Kingdom in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and local authorities. It aims to present oasis tourism products, raise awareness among European sustainable and solidarity tourism networks, and strengthen cooperation ties with interested stakeholders.

This delegation, which includes representatives from about ten foreign travel agencies, visited several tourist sites including the Amhirich camel market, the Guelmim craft complex, a museum and associations in Tighmert, the White Beach, the Lebyar community cactus reserve, and the Noul Lamta archaeological site in Assrir. They also visited certain classified hotel establishments. To get an idea of the region's culinary potential, the visitors tasted local cuisine specialities.

A workshop allowed the members of this delegation to examine with local stakeholders all the ways and means that could contribute to the promotion of oasis tourism, as well as the establishment of partnerships between these travel agencies and the region's tourism stakeholders.

During this visit, the members of the delegation were able to appreciate the considerable tourism potential of the Southern oases: magnificent landscapes and panoramas of the oases, Kasbahs, traditional rural life, specific local products (dates, henna, and sheep farming), gastronomy, and the quality of hospitality.

According to local officials, oasis tourism does not only aim for complementarity with other tourism products, or the traditional tourism of Kasbahs and imperial cities, but also contributes to the mitigation of regional disparities in peripheral Saharan and pre-Saharan zones.

According to them, this sector can contribute decisively to the implementation of oasis conservation and sustainable development projects for local populations. The Saharan space, with its numerous oases offering shade and shelter, constitutes an original and typical product that is highly prized. It is essential for the development of ecological tourism, which has become, nowadays, an international product dictated by the need for adventure and the discovery of nature.