Fez Tourism On the Increase Again

Tourism activity in Morocco has maintained the pace of growth that began at the beginning of the year, with an increase of 8% in arrivals of tourists at border posts during the first seven months of 2017. Fez has done particularly well

Chinese tourist numbers have grown by 406%

The Ministry of Tourism reports that the volume of foreign tourist arrivals increased by 13.5% while Moroccans resident abroad increased by 3%.

The main markets of the Kingdom continue to show strong growth, particularly Germany (+ 11%), the Netherlands (7%), Spain (+ 6%) and Italy (+ 6%). Emerging tourism markets also maintained their upward trend with + 406% for China , + 46% for Japan, + 44% for South Korea, + 23% for the United States and + 47% for Brazil.

The same positive trend is reflected in the number of tourist nights spent in classified tourist accommodation establishments which was up 17% compared with the end of July 2016 (+ 21% for non-resident tourists and + 9% for residents). This rise in overnight stays has affected all destinations in the Kingdom.

Fez has done particularly well with an increase of 38%. Tangier tourism showed a growth of 26%. Marrakech and Agadir maintained their development and recorded an increase of + 20% and + 16% respectively.

Similarly, foreign tourism receipts reached DH 34.4 billion at the end of July 2017 , an increase of 4.3% compared with the same period of the previous year.

The  number of Brazilian tourists is set to increase due to exposure on Brazilian television. The GNT channel has just finished filming a documentary in Fez. One of the producers told The View From Fez that it will be shown early next year.

This filming was assisted by the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) and supervised by the Agency for the Development and Rehabilitation of the City of Fez (ADER), as part of the tourism and cultural promotion of Morocco's spiritual and cultural capital.

The hour long TV programme,  Pedro Pelo Mundo, examines the tourist attractions, culture, traditions, customs and gastronomy of various international destinations. It has an audience of more than 13 million Brazilian homes and more than 32 million viewers.

A Sufi Ceremony was also filmed

The Brazilian television team filmed the Chouara tanneries, the Jnan Sbil gardens, the Mellah, the Al Attarine medersa, the Al Qaraouiyine library, the Mérinides necropolis and Bab Boujloud. In addition they filmed a Sufi performance at Riad Zany. (See story here)

Besides the tourist sites, Brazilian viewers will discover local aspects of the art of living, gastronomy, music and the genius of Fez's master craftsmen.

Presented by a famous Brazilian journalist, Pedro Andrade, the show has already covered a number of international destinations, including Egypt, Iceland, Greece, Denmark, Cuba, Singapore, Oman, Japan, Germany, Portugal.

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Hamadcha Concert - Photo Essay

Pedro Pelo Mundo is the name of a popular Brazilian TV series presented by Pedro Andrade. This week the programme's TV crew are in Fez and as part of their coverage of Moroccan culture, filmed a performance by the Hamadcha Sufi Brotherhood

Click on images to enlarge

The performance was held at Riad Zany, the home of The View From Fez. Thankfully, it was a balmy evening - perfect for experiencing the unique energy of the Hamadcha. The group of twelve musicians was lead by Abderrahim Amrani and included the highly talented musical director, Frédéric Calmès.

The audience of around 40, while being mainly Moroccan, included a group of American Peace Corp volunteers.

Also in the audience was a special guest from Australia - Dr Mustafa Ally OAM (pictured left), and his wife.

Dr Ally was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in the 2012 Australia Day Awards for his services to various communities and for his promotion of interfaith harmony and was appointed a People of Australia Ambassador in the same year by the Australian Government “in recognition of his significant contribution to his community and the wider Australian society”.

The evening's concert was a shortened version of the Hamadcha's normal repertoire, but lost none of its vitality. As Frédéric Calmès remarked, 'Riad Zany is the perfect venue. It is intimate, has great acoustics and lighting and the audience gets to share in the ritual.'

Musical director Frédéric Calmès (3rd from the right)

Hamadcha leader Abderrahim Amrani

Heating a drum skin over the incense

The Brazilian film crew were professional and unobtrusive

"The performance was amazing, like a meditation " - Pedro Andrade enjoying the evening

Pedro Pelo Mundo is fronted by Pedro Andrade, who has made a named for himself with a highly successful career in TV journalism. He began his international career by presenting First Look on NBC for 4 years (for which he received an Emmy nomination).  He later presented a reality show called On the Rocks and was a correspondent on the Today Show (a landmark programme in television history).

In 2013, he signed a contract with ABC to run Fusion Live, his own morning show on Fusion (Disney / ABC Group). The attraction was so successful that in a few months it occupied the prime time of the channel. During his career Pedro has interviewed some of the world's greatest celebrities such as Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Michele Obama, Malala, Keanu Reeves, Pierce Brosnan, Vik Muniz, Pelé, Laird Hamilton, Ronaldo Phenomenon, Eva Mendes and Alejandro Iñáritu.

Pedro says his time in Fez is something he will long remember and plans to come back for a more leisurely holiday

Moroccan children dressed up for the occasion 

One of the unexpected highlights of the evening was performance of a melhoun piece "el bouraqiya", by a young Moroccan female singer, Ikram Kajouar, whose unamplified voice rang, clear as a bell, around the courtyard. She sang this during the prelude to the tsalliya.

 Ikram Kajouar -  blessed with a "bell-like" voice

The Hamadcha performance included El ada, el jazouliya, el lounasa essghira, tsalliya, el lounasa el kebira (including the hadra) and saf el guenbri.

As the performance approached its climax with the beautiful saf el guenbri, the audience rose to their feet and joined with the Hamadcha. As is usual at such events, there were a number of women "trancing" and the evening ended on a high note with traditional ululation and applause.

Two of the women "trance dancing"

Photographs: Sandy McCutcheon

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Brazilian Marliu Miranda - Review

Singer, composer and researcher, Marlui Miranda 

Marlui Miranda – The Soul of the Amazon Forests ‒ Brazil

In the Brazilian language Kamayurá, the word Ihu means sound … all that penetrates our soul through our hearing, including the voices of spirits and of the magic entities of the forest.～ Marlui Miranda

This Sunday afternoon concert at Jnan Sbil had an otherworldly quality for good reason. While seemingly simple - a woman and her guitar, joined by a percussionist - it was far from that. Marlui Miranda is of indigenous origin, and has a formidable reputation as a singer, composer, and researcher, who has studied the musical traditions of the Brazilian Amazon Indians for two decades. She is widely recognised as the penultimate performer of Amazon indigenous music.

Traditional chants and songs from Brazilian Indian nations have been interpreted and adapted by Miranda. She has recorded and toured with many prominent Brazilian musicians and composed music for movies, such as "At Play in the Fields of the Lord", documentaries, TV series, and plays.

Percussionist Kato Marcondes

In this concert, Miranda's clear, melodic voice called across the gardens, enticing the audience to join her in exploring the lands of her home. During her hour long concert, with many audience members comfortably ensconced under shady trees, we were beguiled by impressions of the rainforest and the water which courses through it. Laid back Brazilian rhythms by percussionist Kato Marcondes kept up the tempo.

Skilfully, Miranda recreated the sounds of animals such as blue parrots calling, frogs jumping, and fish being caught. "Animals are the composers", she said in French. "All traditional music is inspired by animals."An echo effect added to the atmosphere.

During her performance Miranda regaled the audience with stories of ritual ways of life now rare; such as hunting fish at night by shining a light on the surface of the water, and then shooting them with a bow and arrow when they surface.

This was a magical, memorable concert; thoroughly enjoyed by those in attendance.

Photographs and review: Suzanna Clarke

Boost in Brazilian Tourist Numbers in Morocco

By the end of 2015 Morocco will have welcomed 27,000 Brazilian tourists. According to the head of a Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) delegation, Abdellatif Achachi, the figure should reach 100,000 by 2019

"Morocco welcomed nearly 22,000 Brazilian tourists in 2014 and expects that figure to reach 27,000 tourists in late 2015 and increasing to 100,000 tourists by 2019," Abdellatif Achachi said during the delegations participation in the Moroccan week that ended on Sunday in Sao Paulo.  Back in 2013 there was an 80% jump in Brazilian tourists visiting the Kingdom.

Abdellatif Achachi

The Moroccan Week was held at the heart of the prestigious "National Conjunto" and was judged to have been a great success with Achachi noted that the ONMT achieved his goal of making Morocco known to the highest number of Brazilians.

"We have achieved our goal of showing Moroccan culture to some 600,000 Brazilians who visited during the week," he said, noting that the number of Brazilian tourists who visited Morocco saw a 5% increase in August.

As to the strategy for the year 2016, Achachi noted that the ONMT is on track in terms of promotion of Morocco as a destination to Brazilian Tours Operators, stressing the need to launch a specific communication campaign at the request of the Brazilian market for cultural tourism product.

Under the theme "Morocco: the awakening of the senses", week included traditional Moroccan music, a Moroccan photography exhibition by Brazilian photographer Thais Ghussn , the Moroccan week which was attended by the Ambassador of Morocco in Brazil, Larbi Moukhariq, ended with a parade of traditional costumes by designer Jihan Archtal.

According to the news website Air Journal, Royal Air Maroc (RAM), in addition to its Sao Paulo service, will launch a service to Rio de Janeiro from May 2, 2016, operated by Boeing 767-300ER aircraft seating 10 passengers in business class and 235 in economy.

Passengers who wish to travel to Rio de Janeiro can choose from three flights a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Return flights to Casablanca are scheduled on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The new service to Rio de Janeiro will begin before the Summer Olympics' to be held in Brazil

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