Tourist transportation in Morocco.. High fuel prices put pressure on professionals and threaten the sector

صحافة بلادي — Tourist transportation professionals in Morocco have warned of the worsening financial pressures on companies operating in the sector, after fuel costs began to consume about 30 percent of their turnover, at a time when the support allocated to the sector does not cover 15 percent of the increase in the fuel bill, according to professional data, which raises concerns about the continuity of a number of companies and their ability to meet their financial obligations.

Data issued by the Moroccan Organization of Tourist Transport and the Democratic Organization of Tourist Transport Professionals indicated that high operating costs, declining profit margins, and limited support are factors that put pressure on the financial liquidity of companies and limit their ability to invest and renew their fleets.

In this context, the head of the Moroccan Organization for Tourist Transport, Mounir Chami, called for reviewing the criteria for calculating and distributing support, taking into account the volume of fuel consumption, distances traveled, types of vehicles, and the nature of the services provided, in addition to enhancing transparency in the data related to the amounts allocated to the sector.

He also stressed the necessity of adopting mechanisms to keep pace with the renewal of the tourist transportation fleet, in light of the high prices of vehicles and the costs of their acquisition and maintenance, which are burdens that increase the difficulty of investment for small and medium enterprises wishing to provide means of transportation that meet standards of safety, quality, and energy efficiency.

For his part, the head of the Democratic Organization of Tourism Transport Professionals, Zuhair Qutbi, confirmed that the sector constitutes an essential link in the tourism system, by ensuring the movement of visitors between airports, hotels, cities and tourist sites, but the high expenses and difficulties in collecting dues limit the impact of tourism activity on the financial situation of companies.

He explained that the difficulty of reviewing the prices of contracts concluded with customers to keep pace with the continuous rise in costs increases pressure on profitability and weakens the ability of companies to achieve financial balance.

At the organizational level, Qutbi called on the government to review the permit book and the legislative and regulatory framework governing tourist transportation, simplify administrative procedures and unify the required documents, while setting clear deadlines for processing the files.

He also called for accelerating the digitization of administrative procedures and the recognition of transport documents associated with electronic reservations, in accordance with controls that guarantee the integrity of transactions and the protection of personal data, considering that improving these aspects would facilitate the work of companies and improve the services provided to customers.

Source:My press