50 Years of Morocco's Guide!

In 2019, the Netherlands and Morocco commemorated the 50th anniversary of establishing official relations in the tourism sector. This made the Netherlands one of the first European countries to establish relations with Morocco in this area.

Atlasbridges/I amorocco and its partners (including the Dutch embassy in Morocco, the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism, the Moroccan Ministry of MRE, the Office Nationale Marocain Tourism (ONMT) and a number of tour operators, airlines and travel organizations) wanted to use this fact as the common thread for their activities in 2019. Atlasbridges and its partners placed their activities that year and the year after under this 'flag' as much as possible.

In 2020, the activity programme of Atlasbridges/I amorocco and B2Benelux paid attention to various aspects of the culture and history between the Netherlands and Morocco from the perspective of 50 years of mutual ties.

Naturally, we reflected on the developments in tourism and culture over the past 50 years. However, we felt it was more important to keep our eyes on the future; after all, over 150,000 Dutch tourists visit Morocco every year. What can Moroccans and Dutch learn from each other in the cultural, social and economic areas? The activities should ensure that these two communities gain a new perspective on their relationship and their shared history.

The development of bilateral relations between Morocco and the Netherlands offers us the opportunity to delve into each other's history and to share our cultural wealth and is also a condition for continuing this history on a new basis and finding a way to achieve a harmonious multicultural society. In order to make this project, which promotes exchanges between these two communities, a lasting success, it is crucial to continue to establish, develop and maintain contacts with municipalities and regions of both countries.

The aim of '50 Years of Tourism with Morocco' was on the one hand to show how this meeting has progressed so far and to recall the most important events, on the other hand we wanted to commemorate and honour our shared history by organising various events in a number of major cities in the Netherlands and Morocco.

Since 2019, Atlasbridges/ I amorocco has started many projects together with its partners in the field of language, culture, economy, education and tourism. These projects have given an impetus to the relationship between Morocco and the Netherlands.

Organized festivities

• Brainstorming with tour operators and partners.
• Kick-off event, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam.
• Kick-off of the festivities with the launch of the “Visit Morocco” portal, Rabat-Morocco.
• Opening Exhibition “Rue du Maroc”, Rabat-Morocco.
• The launch of the 2nd official guide to Morocco “Visit Morocco.
• Trade fair “Morocco Plus” in collaboration with Tour Operators.
• Academy Year “Module Morocco” in collaboration with Tourism Colleges.
• Publication of research “Leisure time behavior for young Moroccans”.
• An exchange program for Tourism students to Morocco in collaboration with colleges.
• Delegation mission “Morocco Experience” for Dutch tour operators.
• Delegation mission “Dutch Experience” for Moroccan tour operators.
• Morocco Expo “Morocco Plus 2019”.