DRNew Delhi: With the intention of vigorously tapping India’s outbound tourism market, thereby doubling the tourist footfall from India by 2019, and facilitating fast-tracking of visa applications, Morocco is planning to set up its tourism office in Delhi.
“Last year 21,850 tourists from India visited Morocco. Our aim is to double the figure by 2019 and increase domestic travellers. The first step towards promotion of Morocco as a desired tourist destination for Indians is to set up a full-fledged Moroccan National Tourism Office and it will be operational in 2-3 months. We have the lowest visa fee (about Rs. 3,000 per person) which is refundable if it is not issued,” Mohamed Maliki, Ambassador of Morocco in India, said.
Morocco Tourism in partnership with Cox and Kings Global Services (CKGS) is also setting up 12 visa application centres (VACs) in India, of which nine are already operational. They are located in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Goa, Indore and Bengaluru. CKGS is set to open a new Morocco Visa Application and Information Centre (MVAIC) in Hyderabad in June 2018.
Maliki said the ties between Morocco and India go back to several centuries and the countries have always enjoyed cordial relations. Both governments have agreed on a newly revised air service agreement which will have a positive impact on facilitating and boosting bilateral tourist movement.
Currently, there are large number of connecting flights from India to Morocco via the Middle East and Europe. Morocco is drawing interest among Bollywood, wedding, meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions (MICE) segments in India, the Moroccan Ambassador said. Last year, Morocco recorded 11.30 million tourists from across the world.
