It is confirmed. The eleventh edition of the Tourism Assises will indeed be held on 29 September 2014 in Rabat. The site selected for the organisation of this event is currently the Mohammed V National Theatre.

The call for tenders regarding the organisation and implementation of these Assises has just been launched. The opening of the bids is set for 25 August. Initially scheduled for December 2012, this eleventh edition had been postponed to 2013 and then scheduled for 2014 under various pretexts, even though the event is highly anticipated by professionals to gain greater visibility on the implementation of Vision 2020 by the current government. The last Assises, it should be remembered, were organised in 2010 to take stock of the past decade and present the new tourism development strategy, which aims to double the size of the sector and position Morocco among the twenty largest global destinations by 2020. The 2014 Assises will therefore be held four years after the launch of the 2020 strategic vision, and "come at a particular international and national juncture that induces expectations and questions that must be addressed," the ministry officials emphasise. According to them, it is a difficult international context, with a sluggish economic situation in our main source markets impacting international demand, investment, and air travel. Added to this is a particular global national context with new institutional reforms and new political challenges, notably linked to regionalisation. "Hence the need to reaffirm tourism as a national priority and a lever for economic and social development, to reassure on the attractiveness of Moroccan tourism, and to continue to unite and mobilise all stakeholders around Vision 2020," indicate the strategists of the department managed by Lahcen Haddad. The programme for the upcoming Assises includes a presentation of the progress report of Vision 2020 followed by two panels. The first on "Investment and financing of the tourism sector", the second on the "Emergence of tourist territories". According to the ministry, the objective of this eleventh edition is to mobilise all stakeholders, national and international, around the strategic vision and the priorities defined for the next five years. The idea is also to highlight the strong challenges of the sector and mobilise all actors around a concerted and proactive approach. The ministry also aims to mobilise all local actors around the challenges of territorial tourism development as a preferred lever for the economic and social development of the regions. The objective, furthermore, is to offer platforms for exchange and debate to institutional and professional stakeholders regarding territorial tourism strategies. The ministry expects the participation of approximately 1,000 people at this event, including 200 foreign guests. These include, among others, tourism professionals (hotel managers, tour operators, travel agencies...), representatives of airlines, investors, national institutions (administrations, representative federations, associations...) as well as representatives of national and international media. It should be noted that a specific website for this eleventh edition of the Tourism Assises will be developed between the end of August and the beginning of September.