On Sunday, Israeli airlines El Al and Israir will commence their first direct tourist flights to Marrakech, Morocco. Moroccan officials stated that in addition to these two companies, a third airline, Arkia, will begin its flights to Morocco on August 4. These flights will connect Tel Aviv directly to Marrakech and Casablanca, aiming to attract "38,000 Israeli tourists to Morocco by the end of this year," while Royal Air Maroc is expected to bring in 12,000 Israeli tourists by the end of 2021. Morocco is betting on Israelis of Moroccan descent, estimated to be around one million. The kingdom aims to attract 200,000 Israelis by 2022.
Zubair Bouhoud, a tourism researcher, mentioned that "Israeli tourists have always come to Morocco, but through indirect flights; the difference today is the direct connection that will expedite travel." He added that factors such as vaccination against COVID-19 and managing the pandemic situation will determine the number of tourists between the two countries. Additionally, he noted that tourist flights between Morocco and Israel have been postponed multiple times due to the pandemic situation.
Officials indicated that the pandemic situation in Morocco has seen an upward trend since June due to "relaxation of precautionary measures," with COVID-19 infections reaching 575,162 as of Sunday. Morocco had restored diplomatic relations with Israel following a Moroccan-Israeli-U.S. trilateral agreement on December 10, which saw Rabat reestablish diplomatic ties with Israel in exchange for U.S. recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region with the Polisario Front since 1976.
Morocco had closed the Israeli liaison office in Rabat in 2000 following the outbreak of the Second Intifada. After the restoration of diplomatic relations between Rabat and Tel Aviv, Moroccan King Mohammed VI, who chairs the Jerusalem Committee, contacted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to reassure him that his position on the Palestinian issue is "consistent and unchanging."
