Tourism, Highways, Connectivity… Casablanca Gets Up to Speed

Casablanca will host the world during the 2030 World Cup, which represents both a major challenge and an exceptional opportunity for the region’s tourism operators. They will be able to test themselves in a few weeks, with the start of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Hamid Bentahar, president of the National Tourism Confederation (CNT), welcomes the efforts made to ensure Casablanca is more pleasant for its citizens. “For our industry, this is a very important element. For a city to attract international travelers, it must first take good care of its own residents,” he stated.

The official reports significant investments in accommodation capacity at the metropolis’ hotels. “New prestigious establishments are setting up in Casablanca. All major international brands are now established here or want to develop more capacity. Casablanca, we don’t always realize it, is an extraordinary brand to conquer the world,” he indicated.

For him, efforts must now focus on service quality: “The work being done on the ‘hard’ is remarkable. Where we must collectively work a bit more is on the ‘soft.’ As tourism professionals, we are working on the Dyafa 2030 program. We travel through schools, institutions, to train and raise awareness about the importance of service. Casablanca must achieve excellence in hospitality.” Efforts must also be made on the communication front. “There is a collective effort to be made on communication around Casablanca. We produce very little content in English, very little content for Chinese clients, for example.”

One of the main challenges to address lies in improving the occupancy rate of Casablanca’s hotels. “Casablanca’s occupancy rate is below 60%, compared to over 70% in Marrakech and Agadir. A rate that must be raised to make the city even more attractive to investors,” emphasized the CNT president.

He recommends several solutions for this: “Projects like the convention center, which has become more than indispensable to materialize, or an arena for hosting major cultural events, would be real assets for the metropolis. Another proposal is to open Casablanca’s airport to low-cost carriers. This is a key point that could gain us 10 to 15 points in occupancy rate and profitability for investors. I also propose abolishing constraints on hotel height. If we continue to have constraints on the number of floors, an investor who could create 200 jobs will only create 80. This is a regulatory issue.”

Highways: Casablanca’s Entries Smoothed

The highway network in the region is also undergoing major changes, driven by the Moroccan Highway Company, with the completion of several structuring projects.

“We started quite early by strengthening the capacity of operational highways, notably the tripling in 2024 of the Mohammedia-Berrechid highway over nearly 60 km,” indicated Mohamad Chouh, director of expertise and innovation at Autoroutes du Maroc. In addition to these projects, others have just been inaugurated or are about to be.

The Tit Mellil-Berrechid highway, 30 km long, was launched on November 18, on the occasion of Independence Day. At the strategic entrances to the metropolis, the Sidi Maârouf junction was put into service the same day. “This junction is crucial. It records traffic of 140,000 vehicles per day. It was designed with an innovative three-level concept, combining two types of interchanges, the ‘cloverleaf’ and the ‘turbine,’ a first in Morocco! The goal is to separate flows and eliminate the crossing that caused many safety and traffic slowdown problems,” detailed the official.

The Aïn Harrouda junction has been redeveloped following the same logic. This project includes the construction of 12 structures and underpasses. It will be operational by the end of November.

ADM is also strongly committed to helping Morocco achieve its greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, knowing that road transport is one of the sectors that emits the most carbon.

“We are studying a strategy for deploying a network of electric charging stations to support the growth of these vehicles. We are considering a viable economic model for installing these stations on highways. The idea is to install a station every 80 km across the highway network.”

The official also highlighted the strategic nature of the future continental Casa-Rabat highway, 60 km long, which will be delivered in 2028.

Connectivity: 5G is Here…

Telecom operators are also playing their part in this transformation. The recent and gradual deployment of 5G constitutes a major advancement for the connectivity of the white city from this perspective.

Operators are redoubling efforts to offer a customer experience meeting the best standards. “We must be impeccable as these major global events approach, because we will be compared to what was done before. We are very aware of this. And I can tell you we will be ready,” stated Mohamed Benali, Chief Technology & Information Officer at Orange Maroc.

He highlights Orange Group’s experience, having recently worked on events of similar magnitude. Locally, he added, Orange Maroc has been continuously investing for 25 years in the Moroccan market to build both robust and scalable infrastructures, “which will make Casablanca a connected and smart showcase.”

The deployment of 5G follows other innovations like fiber optics. “Fiber is now becoming a product accessible to all Casablancans. Orange Maroc has contributed greatly, as we cover 55 to 60% of households in Casablanca with fiber optics. 5G reinforces this innovation dynamic. And this is only the beginning…,” he estimated.

The issue of content production is a major topic: 99% of content consumed in Morocco comes from abroad. “To attract these major content producers, we must have the ingredients for this attractiveness. We already have some, like the geographical position that makes us essential,” argues Benali.

“We also need connectivity to the world, which is being strengthened with very emblematic projects connecting via submarine cables. Moreover, Orange Maroc will inaugurate early next year a new submarine cable linking Nador to Marseille. We also need investments in the cloud. We are very happy to be the first Moroccan player to have signed with Amazon last year. We will continue this development, working with the entire ecosystem to attract these players,” he concluded.