Tourism Animation: SMIT’s Strategic Bet to Reinvent the Morocco Experience

In a context of accelerated change in the tourism sector, the Moroccan Society for Tourism Engineering (SMIT) has, in recent weeks, stepped up its initiatives to make tourism animation a strategic lever for enhancing the competitiveness and attractiveness of territories.

Long regarded as a complementary offering, animation is now establishing itself as a central pillar in the upgrading of Moroccan tourism. In the face of changing traveler expectations, the experience is becoming a decisive factor in destination choice.

Immersive experiences, themed leisure activities, cultural events, amusement parks, or experiential circuits: diversifying the offer now appears as a key challenge to extend length of stay, increase spending per visitor, and consolidate Morocco’s positioning as a comprehensive and competitive tourist destination.

A structured and proactive strategy

SMIT is deploying an integrated approach combining the identification of territorial opportunities, project engineering, and investor mobilization. Through potential studies, technical and financial structuring, and tailored support, the institution has prepared a pipeline of bankable projects likely to attract national and international capital.

In this momentum, several Calls for Expressions of Interest (CEIs) have recently been launched to select private operators capable of developing high-impact animation projects. These CEIs aim to identify investors specialized in leisure and entertainment; structure public-private partnerships around territorial projects; accelerate the realization of mature projects thanks to a clear contractual framework; and foster the emergence of innovative VSEs and SMEs positioned in high-potential niches.

The CEIs thus constitute a tool for transparency, competitiveness, and broader investor mobilization, helping to democratize access to investment in tourism animation.

At stake is an integrated, structuring mechanism: a dedicated organization within SMIT; targeted financial support provided by the Moukawala Siyahia program; easier access to the market, skills, and expert networks; high value-added mentoring; and a marketplace that promotes connections among project leaders, investors, and operators. A complete ecosystem designed to accelerate project delivery and multiply the impact of VSEs and SMEs in tourism animation.

Connecting small investors to the leisure world

In the same spirit, the recent organization of the IAPPA Summit by SMIT and the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions marked a strategic milestone. This global gathering of professionals in parks, attractions, and leisure served as a privileged platform to position Morocco as an investment destination in the leisure industries; build partnerships with specialized international operators; attract technical expertise and innovative concepts; and facilitate access to networks of investors specialized in animation.

The IAPPA Summit thus helped connect the Moroccan ecosystem to international standards and accelerate the transfer of know-how.

Toward scaling up investment in animation VSEs and SMEs

The challenge goes beyond delivering small projects. The aim now is to scale up investment in animation VSEs and SMEs within productive ecosystems, supported by advanced tourism engineering—a true driver of local revitalization.

SMIT’s strategy seeks to lower entry barriers for mid-ticket investors; structure reproducible and scalable business models; facilitate access to venture capital and guarantee mechanisms; and strengthen the professionalization of project leaders.

By multiplying opportunities through the CEIs and opening the market to international investors, SMIT is creating the conditions for an ecosystem conducive to the rapid growth of tourism VSEs and SMEs.

Through this approach, tourism animation becomes a vector of economic transformation: creation of local jobs, diversification of revenue, lengthening of tourist seasons, and improvement of the visitor experience.

Scaling up investments in animation VSEs and SMEs thus fits into the 2023–2026 tourism roadmap: to make Moroccan tourism an innovative, resilient, and sustainable sector, capable of meeting international standards while enhancing the cultural and territorial identity of the Kingdom.