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Hamid Bentahar
Hamid Bentahar’s involvement with tourism and hospitality began very early, as his interest in Tourism started when he was still a student. He used to work during the summer and other holidays in hotels to make some pocket money. Besides this, he loved horse riding since he was 11 years old and this played a key role in his future.
Born in 1971 in El Jadida, Hamid Bentahar spent two years at Kadi Ayyad University in Marrakech, after a Bachelor of Economics obtained in 1987 in Erraz Technical School of El Jadida. He had his first job at the Palmariva Club Marrakech, at that time managed by the Accor group, in 1989.
This step was short-lived and his career in the Accor Group was just beginning. Through internships at various levels, including the training of directors, he achieved a breakthrough. Between 1989 and 1994, he was successively village chief and deputy director at the Club.
In 1994, he went to Greece, where he supported the general direction of Eretria Club in Greece. His journey took him afterwards to Turkey, where he spent two years as the CEO of the Tekirova Club, part of the Accor group. Armed with solid experience, he was appointed in 1998, Director of the "Accor Leisure and Tourism" Training.
After one year, he was entrusted with management of product marketing for the Accor Coralia Club headquarters in Paris. Three years later, in 1999 he moved to Djerba in Tunisia, where he was the regional manager of Accor Group.
His mission ended in June 2004 and since that date, he has presided over the fate of three hotels of the French group Accor in Agadir, Essaouira, and Marrakech.
Newly elected President of the Regional Tourism Centre of Marrakech at its general assembly held on Monday 24 November, Hamid Bentahar spoke to Yacout Info on his goals and challenges for his new appointment for a 3 years mandate.
Concerning the city of Marrakech he said it gave him a lot, “it gave me more than a profession, a passion, pleasure, joy but also anxiety from time to time, a little of stress because as you know very well, our job is 10% inspiration and 90% of 'sweat'”.
Mr. Bentahar’s aim is to work on the development of the region of Marrakech, which he thinks is the very purpose if not ‘the purpose’ of the Regional Tourism Centre.
During his stay in Agadir, Mr. Bentahar was the head of the promotion activities section of the Agadir RCT. Now as the new President of the Marrakech RTC he believes that “much has been done ... and yet much remains to be done.” He sees that the ‘Brand’ Marrakech was achieved thanks to the exceptional work, carried out to develop the city and the region by the authorities, elected officials and professionals in the tourism industry.
Born in 1971 in El Jadida, Hamid Bentahar spent two years at Kadi Ayyad University in Marrakech, after a Bachelor of Economics obtained in 1987 in Erraz Technical School of El Jadida. He had his first job at the Palmariva Club Marrakech, at that time managed by the Accor group, in 1989.
This step was short-lived and his career in the Accor Group was just beginning. Through internships at various levels, including the training of directors, he achieved a breakthrough. Between 1989 and 1994, he was successively village chief and deputy director at the Club.
In 1994, he went to Greece, where he supported the general direction of Eretria Club in Greece. His journey took him afterwards to Turkey, where he spent two years as the CEO of the Tekirova Club, part of the Accor group. Armed with solid experience, he was appointed in 1998, Director of the "Accor Leisure and Tourism" Training.
After one year, he was entrusted with management of product marketing for the Accor Coralia Club headquarters in Paris. Three years later, in 1999 he moved to Djerba in Tunisia, where he was the regional manager of Accor Group.
His mission ended in June 2004 and since that date, he has presided over the fate of three hotels of the French group Accor in Agadir, Essaouira, and Marrakech.
Newly elected President of the Regional Tourism Centre of Marrakech at its general assembly held on Monday 24 November, Hamid Bentahar spoke to Yacout Info on his goals and challenges for his new appointment for a 3 years mandate.
Concerning the city of Marrakech he said it gave him a lot, “it gave me more than a profession, a passion, pleasure, joy but also anxiety from time to time, a little of stress because as you know very well, our job is 10% inspiration and 90% of 'sweat'”.
Mr. Bentahar’s aim is to work on the development of the region of Marrakech, which he thinks is the very purpose if not ‘the purpose’ of the Regional Tourism Centre.
During his stay in Agadir, Mr. Bentahar was the head of the promotion activities section of the Agadir RCT. Now as the new President of the Marrakech RTC he believes that “much has been done ... and yet much remains to be done.” He sees that the ‘Brand’ Marrakech was achieved thanks to the exceptional work, carried out to develop the city and the region by the authorities, elected officials and professionals in the tourism industry.
His ambition is to ensure that the RTC makes the best use of the talents and skills of the region. Concerning his office, he said that it would be made of experienced Moroccan professionals and as he said, “there are many Moroccans with international expertise.” He added that it will also be open to all friends of Marrakech, the Marrakech people by heart and professionals that have invested and will continue to invest in the development and improvement of our region.
When questioned about the tourism sector and the actual situation of this important field in the Moroccan economy, Hamid Bentahar continues, “The mobilization comes today at a crucial time, our region is experiencing an unprecedented sweep of the best trademarks and the most beautiful brands that are here as others will join.”
Concerning the strength and weaknesses of Marrakech, Mr. Bentahar believes that it “is a significant step, moving from a European destination to a global destination. We have no right to miss this step. This consensus is required to dispose of budgets, because without a budget there will be no action.”
The possibility of including the elected representatives in the work of the RTC was also one of our questions to Mr. Bentahar who said, “we need all the skills, each playing a fundamental role. Tourism, as you know, is a team in which we need all actors from elected representatives, authorities, and professionals. Thus, my goal is to lead a team rich in experience and expertise as widely as possible.”
When questioned about the main goals of his program as new president, Mr. Bentahar explained that he will first meet with people and become aware of their expectations and ideas in order to draft a proper action plan. However, he mentioned some of the challenges that he is aware of and the goals he is aiming to achieve in his mandate.
He believes that there is a real need to “Mobilize to ensure that the budget for promotion is at the level of our ambitions,” in order to increase the influence of the “‘brand’ Marrakech and contribute to the development of the whole region.” Besides, Hamid Bentahar mentioned the importance of “coping and integrating more quickly into online sales and booking” in order to “oversee flight schedules to achieve a number of seats compatible with the hotel capacity and market objectives”.
Mr. Bentahar is aware that “the challenge today is to absorb the new hotel capacity by developing a new clientele, thanks to the arrival of new hotel brands.” As well as the promotion of other sites such as “rural tourism and sustainable tourism that respects the balance of nature.” For him “the promotion and prestigious brands, will allow us to increase the number of tourists” However, this will be possible only if “we have a high quality of service” he added.
It is clear that the challenges are numerous, and Mr. Bentahar is aware of the difficulty of the upcoming tasks but as he said with the support of elected officials and all professionals, he proposes, “to make the RTC a new generation to unite and put tourism at the heart of all.”
We wish Mr. Hamid Bentahar and his team good luck in this new appointment and we will follow the development of the actions undertaken by the Regional Tourism Centre of Marrakech thoroughly.
When questioned about the tourism sector and the actual situation of this important field in the Moroccan economy, Hamid Bentahar continues, “The mobilization comes today at a crucial time, our region is experiencing an unprecedented sweep of the best trademarks and the most beautiful brands that are here as others will join.”
Concerning the strength and weaknesses of Marrakech, Mr. Bentahar believes that it “is a significant step, moving from a European destination to a global destination. We have no right to miss this step. This consensus is required to dispose of budgets, because without a budget there will be no action.”
The possibility of including the elected representatives in the work of the RTC was also one of our questions to Mr. Bentahar who said, “we need all the skills, each playing a fundamental role. Tourism, as you know, is a team in which we need all actors from elected representatives, authorities, and professionals. Thus, my goal is to lead a team rich in experience and expertise as widely as possible.”
When questioned about the main goals of his program as new president, Mr. Bentahar explained that he will first meet with people and become aware of their expectations and ideas in order to draft a proper action plan. However, he mentioned some of the challenges that he is aware of and the goals he is aiming to achieve in his mandate.
He believes that there is a real need to “Mobilize to ensure that the budget for promotion is at the level of our ambitions,” in order to increase the influence of the “‘brand’ Marrakech and contribute to the development of the whole region.” Besides, Hamid Bentahar mentioned the importance of “coping and integrating more quickly into online sales and booking” in order to “oversee flight schedules to achieve a number of seats compatible with the hotel capacity and market objectives”.
Mr. Bentahar is aware that “the challenge today is to absorb the new hotel capacity by developing a new clientele, thanks to the arrival of new hotel brands.” As well as the promotion of other sites such as “rural tourism and sustainable tourism that respects the balance of nature.” For him “the promotion and prestigious brands, will allow us to increase the number of tourists” However, this will be possible only if “we have a high quality of service” he added.
It is clear that the challenges are numerous, and Mr. Bentahar is aware of the difficulty of the upcoming tasks but as he said with the support of elected officials and all professionals, he proposes, “to make the RTC a new generation to unite and put tourism at the heart of all.”
We wish Mr. Hamid Bentahar and his team good luck in this new appointment and we will follow the development of the actions undertaken by the Regional Tourism Centre of Marrakech thoroughly.
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