Creative Tourism Network® and Essaouira strengthen their alliance to promote creative tourism ahead of the UNESCO Conference

On Wednesday, December 24th, Bayt Addakira, an emblematic site of memory and dialogue, hosted a conference dedicated to Essaouira’s tourism strategy under the theme “Essaouira, Creative City and its Best Tourism Villages: A Model of Creative and Sustainable Tourism Development.”

Organized by the LERMA laboratory (Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Cadi Ayyad University), the Essaouira Provincial Tourism Delegation, and the Creative Tourism Network®, the meeting brought together stakeholders from the tourism, culture, and creative industries around a shared objective: to consolidate and deploy a model of creative, inclusive, and sustainable tourism.

The event took on a decisive dimension with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Provincial Tourism Council and the Creative Tourism Network®.

This agreementl formalizes the commitment to joint actions in preparation for the UNESCO World Conference of Creative Cities, to be held in September 2026.

This exceptional event will be a highlight for the city and the region, offering Essaouira an international platform to showcase its cultural and tourism initiatives.

Speeches highlighted the uniqueness of Essaouira, where culture nourishes local development and where authentic skills and traditions interact with innovative initiatives.

Professor Mohamed Boukherouk of Cadi Ayyad University opened the session by emphasizing the driving role of culture in the city’s evolution, highlighting the impetus provided by His Excellency André Azoulay and the municipal leadership of Mr. Tarik Ottmani, who have helped make Essaouira a laboratory that reconciles modernity and tradition.

For Mr. Redwane Khanne, President of the Provincial Tourism Council, Essaouira is more than just a stopover: it is a destination in its own right, whose cultural and creative strategy allows it to offer a rich and diverse range of experiences, while promoting local identity and traditional crafts, and thus ensuring respect for sustainable values.

Mr. Younes Dbibirha, Provincial Delegate of Tourism, stressed the immersive experience offered by the city, where visitors and residents meet and share life moments, whether in the Medina or in the surrounding rural areas.

His presentation focused on the recognition of Sidi Kaouki and Moulay Bouzerktoune as Best Tourism Villages by the World Tourism Organization as a strategic lever: these labels serve as anchor points to develop itineraries linking the coast to the hinterland and to structure a coherent and sustainable territorial offer.

Creative tourism plays an essential role in developing an attractive offer and also serves as a lever for sustainable development.

The UNESCO World Conference of Creative Cities will highlight the co-created experiences with Prof. Boukherouk and the Creative Tourism Network®, and will contribute to making Essaouira a model of resilient and regenerative tourism development.

Mrs. Caroline Couret, President of the Creative Tourism Network®, emphasized the distinction between “tourists” and “travelers,” a nuance that, according to her, defines the spirit of Essaouira: here, hospitality favors exchange, co-creation, and transmission—values that guarantee the sustainability of a destination.

Furthermore, Couret stressed the importance of this collaboration, which will create synergies with other international partners within the framework of the UNESCO World Conference of Creative Cities.

The signing of the MoU was indeed the decisive moment, the first actions of which will be announced at the beginning of the year, marking the launch of a roadmap aimed at making Essaouira a model of creative and sustainable tourism on a global scale.

The session cclosed with relevant interventions from the audience, who became the new co-creators of this inclusive project.

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