Tourism And the Issue of Sustainability in Morocco: The Case of The Seaside Resort Taghazout

Abstract

Tourism has long been a crucial activity for the Moroccan economy, making a significant contribution to the country's GDP. As a result, this sector ranks high among the State's priorities, and it receives paramount importance in terms of planning and investment. The objectives of the tourism plans differ. Mainly stemming from the directives of international financial institutions, these objectives will contribute to the boom of mass tourism, disregarding the social and environmental dimensions of "touristified" territories. It was not until the development of Vision 2020 that the concept of sustainable tourism emerged, which "sustainably values territories, populations, heritages, and spreads its beneficial effects in the most remote areas of the Kingdom" (Program Contract 2011-2020, 2010: 5). The concept of sustainable tourism is relatively recent, and the first guide "towards sustainable tourism" was published in 2006 by the UNWTO and UNEP. As for the global criteria for sustainable tourism introduced in December 2019. The aim of this study is to assess the extent to which Moroccan tourism meets the criteria for sustainable tourism in destinations. The criteria to be analyzed are applied to the resort of Taghazout, which is Morocco's foremost coastal resort in terms of development.