A meeting of the local committee in charge of the follow-up of the implementation of the convention relating to the restructuring of the tourist resort of Oukaimeden, devoted to the launching of the upgrading and revalorization works of this resort so as to further consolidate its attractiveness, was held on Thursday in Tahanaout, chief town of the province of Al Haouz.
Held in the presence of the Wali of the Marrakech-Safi region, Governor of the Prefecture of Marrakech, Mr. Karim Kassi-Lahlou, the President of the Regional Council of Marrakech-Safi, Mr. Samir Goudar, and the Governor of the Province of Al Haouz, Mr. Rachid Benchikhi, this meeting constituted the official launch of the implementation of the provisions of this convention approved on July 13.
This agreement, which involves several actors, concerns the implementation of an action plan aimed at increasing the number of visitors to the site to 500,000 annually by 2030.
Speaking at the opening of this meeting, the wali of the Marrakech-Safi region said that the upgrading of the Oukaïmeden ski resort is a structuring project for the province of Al Haouz and the Marrakech-Safi region aiming at “creating an internationally recognized label”.
While highlighting the importance of setting up the local committee in charge of monitoring the implementation of the convention relating to the restructuring of this station in order to ensure the completion of this project as soon as possible, Mr. Kassi-Lahlou indicated that this project should promote the creation of businesses and jobs for the youth of the province.
For his part, the President of the Regional Council of Marrakech-Safi, Mr. Samir Goudar, called on the various stakeholders to federate their efforts to ensure the success of this large-scale national project, which will enable this Station to offer quality services, to reinforce its reception capacity and to offer activities in a professional manner.
In this sense, Mr Goudar has affirmed that the tourist station of Oukaïmeden, a real natural heritage, conceals many potentialities which are likely to allow the development of activities as rich as diversified, capable of putting an end to the problem of its seasonality.
During this meeting, the regional director of the Ministry of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water of Marrakech-Safi, Mr. Mustapha El Hamdaoui, gave a presentation on this project, particularly the axis concerning the improvement of road access, for a global investment of 165 million DH,
In this sense, Mr. El Hamdaoui indicated that this axis foresees the widening of the road on the 80 kilometres which lead to the Station, which will avoid to the drivers the zones of shade and the difficult turns, estimating that building site will have a positive impact on the promotion of the tourist activity as well as on the sector of the craft industry in the province.
For his part, the General Manager of the Moroccan Society of Tourist Engineering (SMIT), Mr Imad Barrakad, recalled, in his speech, that the study of the project was initiated by SMIT in 2018 for an amount of about 600.000 DH, “which allowed to reach this action plan contained in the convention whose implementation was officially launched today”.
He continued that the realization of “this project will contribute, without any doubt, to the reinforcement of the tourist attractiveness of the province of Al Haouz in particular, and of the Marrakech-Safi region in general, by laying the foundations of a real sustainable mountain tourism and creator of wealth”.
This project, whose overall investment is estimated at 230 million DH, aims to promote the potential of the mountain and its immediate environment, to create a distinguished product with a strong influence as well as a wealth and a sustained dynamic in the areas bordering Mount Oukaïmeden, with a view to improving the living conditions of the natives (creation of employment opportunities, enhancement of local products, development of income-generating activities (IGAs), creation of a commercial dynamic and improvement of public services….etc).
This large-scale project also aims to create sports and recreational activities, to promote awareness of the importance of sport, and to generate added value at local and regional level.
This project will be carried out in two phases, the first of which involves changing the resort’s management model, adopting a new management model and approach, improving the technical performance of the lifts, renewing the equipment and carrying out maintenance work, implementing a structural programme to deal with the risks of snowfall and installing safety equipment.
Also programmed within the framework of this first phase are the creation of entertainment activities throughout the year, the restructuring of the urban area of the resort, the resolution of the problem of access to the resort and the redevelopment of the car park, the reinforcement of environmental protection tools, the enhancement of the forestry product, the enhancement of the material and immaterial product of the region in order to make it better known to visitors and finally the training of human resources
The second part of this project concerns the development of a new generation of entertainment activities, the construction of a panoramic restaurant at the top of the Oukaïmeden mountain and the construction of a cable car.
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