A first charter flight with about 200 passengers from Minsk, the capital of Belarus, landed on the tarmac of Agadir Al Massira airport on Saturday evening.
This inaugural flight is part of the strengthening of air services to the country's leading seaside resort from the promising tourist markets of Eastern Europe.
A welcoming ceremony was organised on this occasion for the passengers of this flight, which includes, in addition to tourists, tour operators and journalists who will make a tour to discover the tourist sites and hotel and reception facilities of the cities of Agadir, Marrakech and Essaouira.
The director of the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) in Moscow, Samir Soussi, said that this flight, which will be followed by another on 3 November, aims to promote Morocco's tourist assets in the Belarusian market through a programme of direct services between Minsk and Agadir that will run from April to November 2019.
He added, in a statement to MAP, that this operation, organized with the support of several partners including the ONMT and the Regional Tourism Council, aims to target new emerging markets neighbouring Russia, at the level of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
In addition to Belarus, discussions are ongoing with tourism operators in Ukraine to set up air services between Kiev and Agadir, continued Soussi, noting that TOs in the Republic of Kazakhstan have shown an interest in the Moroccan tourism product. Contacts are underway to launch a charter flight program with this country as well, the ONMT manager continued in the Russian capital.
According to the ONMT, the increase in direct air services is likely to strengthen the attractiveness and competitiveness of Agadir, which is now linked to a greater number of international destinations and is the main source of tourists in Europe.
The efforts made by the various stakeholders at local, regional and national level to ensure the success of these initiatives can boost the tourism sector, which is an important vector of the economy of the Souss-Massa region.
source : h24
