The tourist brigade recently proceeded to the arrest of more than 50 illegal guides in less than 48 hours. The latter were brought before justice under the charge of, among other things, usurpation of function.

These individuals, who passed themselves off as tourist guides, were apprehended in strategic places among the most frequented by visitors, including the mythical Jamaâ Lafna Square, Souk Semmarine, and the medina with its labyrinth-shaped alleys where stalls compete in colours and scents.

More than other tourist cities in the Kingdom, Marrakech indeed holds the gold medal in terms of harassment of tourists who are also often faced with all the scams from, in particular, fake guides, unscrupulous taxi drivers, and certain unscrupulous shopkeepers. The tourist brigade keeps a watchful eye and tries as best it can to ensure security and fight against all forms of inconvenience for tourists such as those caused by illegal guides, beggars, street vendors, pickpockets, and touts of all kinds.

It must be noted, however, that this brigade has difficulty monitoring a city that welcomes nearly two million tourists per year. The elements of the said brigade do their best despite their derisory numbers and the insignificant means at their disposal compared to the size of the city and its position as the first tourist destination of the Kingdom.

The insufficiency of human resources constitutes in truth a brake on the proper conduct of the mission of the Marrakech tourist brigade, consisting in particular of putting an end to the inconveniences and abuses committed by intruders.

For tourists in the Ochre City, succeeding nowadays in getting rid of the cohorts of fake guides who stick to their skin like leeches proves to be an impossible mission a priori. This necessarily harms the image of Morocco.

On the other hand, the corporation of tourist guides of Marrakech recognises that its task is not easy, given in particular the anarchy that currently prevails in the profession.

It nevertheless reaffirms its firm determination to strike a blow to fake guides and illegal service providers who do not cease to harm the profession and to remedy a train of injustices and excesses.

And to add that its priority is the defence of the legitimate demands of the guides who unfortunately vegetate in an untenable situation despite their status as an essential link in the tourist landscape. According to official data, Marrakech has more than 800 tourist guides and mountain escorts.

The profession is reorganising itself Concerned about the pioneering role that guides play on the national tourist scene, the Government Council had adopted a draft law organising the tourist guide profession. Law 05-12 is part of the public policy aimed at improving the quality of services provided by tourist guides, a key element of the development and progress of national tourist activity. This text tends to enhance the profession through the improvement of the conditions of exercise of this trade, to put in place training mechanisms in phase with international standards in the matter, and to modernise the profession through the creation of tourist guide companies.

In the same vein, the Parliamentary Commission for Productive Sectors had also adopted a draft law on the reorganisation of the tourist guide profession.

Composed of 32 articles, the new law (10.09) officially declares war on fake guides and provides for heavy penalties against them, going up to two years in prison in case of recidivism. At the same time, it provides for a panoply of advantages in favour of official guides.