British Moroccan Society Dinner

The President of the BMS, Mr Anthony Layden said that the BMS had had a very good year of social occasions which had helped to raise substantial funds for Charity in Morocco. He spoke to a very well attended gathering and Dr Ali Bahaijoub Vice chairman of the BMS later conducted the annual raffle for prizes in his own inimitable and well loved style which has become a tradition at this event. The raffle raises considerable sums for charities in Morocco each year .

Anthony Laden invited Minister of Tourism Mohamed Boussaid who thanked Mr Layden and the Ambassador and highlighted the role of the BMS as a bridge between the two kingdoms on the cultural and charitable fronts. He said that Morocco was weathering the storm as regards the financial crisis and its effect on tourism very well and far better sectors and countries. This was due to Morocco's accessibility and proximity to Europe and the successful completion of projects like Saidia and Mazagan. The United Kingdom is a priority market for Morocco and the Moroccan Tourist had been running a series of high profile advertising campaigns which have emphasised Morocco's fast growing tourism sector. His Majesty King Mohammed VI had personally initiated the Plan Azur, Mazagan, and saidia. They were the first fruits of this ambitious plan. He looked forward to the opening of Mogador near Essaouira in 2010. Marrakech has 6 new hotels from the top hotel groups and is achieving 15,000 beds each year increasing capacity by 20 per cent. The ministry were working on sustainable tourism and water resources for new projects.

Morocco has been better able to withstand the downturn and the figure for arrivals in June 2009 was 6.5 per cent as against 5 per cent for last year. Morocco is looking to 8 million arrivals this year. This was a significant achievement in the face of the world economic downturn.