Students on the ‘Sustainable Tourism’ degree programme travelled to Morocco from Weeze Airport under the supervision of Professor Dr Dirk Reiser.
Kleve/Kamp-Lintfort, 1 August 2016: 24 fourth-semester students on the ‘Sustainable Tourism’ degree programme explored tourism in Morocco as part of a week-long field trip. They immersed themselves in Moroccan culture and engaged in conversation with locals. A series of presentations on sustainable tourism delivered by the students during the trip formed an integral part of the excursion.
The group first visited the city of Marrakech, where they were given a guided tour of the medina (the old town), after which they analysed the city’s tourism potential. Through hands-on experience, the students were able to explore and experience first-hand the connection between colonialism, capitalism and tourism, using the example of gentrification in Marrakech. Gentrification describes a process of social restructuring and socio-economic transformation in which certain neighbourhoods are upgraded, for example through restoration and redevelopment work, or through the exodus of poorer population groups and the influx of wealthier ones. An outstanding example of this process is the medina in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.
During their field trip, the students explored numerous other tourism-related topics, such as the impacts of climate change on World Heritage sites, agriculture and land use. They also examined sustainable tourism in developing countries, using the examples of a community-based tourism project, film tourism and hotel management. As part of this, they visited the ‘Kasbah du Toubkal’ – an eco-lodge recognised by National Geographic, situated in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains – before travelling on to ‘Aït-Ben-Haddou’, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a well-known film location featured in productions such as ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Gladiator’.
On a broader level, the national tourism authority presented its sustainability vision and ideas on sustainable tourism in Morocco to the students. “The field trip enabled us to analyse Moroccan tourism first-hand and gain experiences that we could not have acquired through a lecture alone. Through our contact with the country’s everyday culture and its people, we were able to get to know the country and its tourism sector in a very special way,” explains Pascal Helfer, a student and course representative for the “Sustainable Tourism” programme.
