A forum hosted by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Morocco's Ministry of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicraft and Social Economy themed on tourism cooperation between China and Morocco was held online Wednesday via a digital media platform. Over 150 participants from the tourism sector, diplomatic service and research institutions of the two countries attended the conference.

The event was comprised of keynote speeches, a panel discussion, tourism promotion and online exhibitions. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic this year, participants exchanged opinions on measures that could be implemented to facilitate a full recovery in the travel industry, as well as the prospects for future cooperation in the tourism sector between China and Morocco in the post-pandemic era.

Zhang Xu, Chinese vice-minister of Culture and Tourism, delivered a speech at the event and said the forum aims to bring together wisdom and experience, while the core is to focus on new trends and growth points for Sino-Moroccan tourism cooperation that emerged after the outbreak of the pandemic. The forum was a significant event in reinvigorating the cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, and hopefully a more strategic and pragmatic partnership in the sector of tourism cooperation between China and Morocco will be upgraded to a new level, Zhang said.

Nadia Fettah Alaoui, minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicraft and Social Economy of Morocco, said in a speech that as two great civilizations, China and Morocco have a long-standing and time-honored friendship. Tourism cooperation between China and Morocco has been especially close in recent years. Tourism is a pillar industry of Morocco and is a pivotal cooperation sector in the Belt and Road Initiative. As the biggest inbound tourism country in Africa and the largest outbound tourism country in the world, Morocco and China, respectively, should push forward deeper cooperation between the two countries.