King Mohammed VI, accompanied by Prince Moulay Rachid and Prince Moulay Ismail, inaugurated Mediterrania Saidia on Friday 19 June.
The event marked the inauguration of the second phase of Marina Saïdia, the third largest marina in the Mediterranean with capacity to host from 800 to 1350 boats. Also opened were "Médina Saidia", a 40-ha shopping center taking the shape of a Moroccan traditional city, “El Palmeral” golf course, an 18 hole championship course to be managed by Troon Golf and two beach front hotels: the Barceló and the Iberostar.
The Mediterrania Saïdia resort covers 7,000,000 m2 and will have a capacity of 30,000 beds, and generate 8,000 direct jobs and 40,000 indirect ones by 2013. Up to now, 33% of the accommodation capacity has been achieved, and 1,700 direct and 8,500 indirect jobs have been created.
The 1.5 billion dollar Mediterrania Saïdia resort is part of the Plan Azur which aims to create new tourist destinations and diversify Moroccan tourism through the development of coastal resorts on the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coasts. It is considered as one of the key elements in the national strategy underpinning "Vision 2010". This 10-year plan aims to attract 10 million visitors, train 70,000 tourism-related professionals and improve the tourism infrastructure.
The inauguration event and gala dinner was attended by several Moroccan and international personalities, as well as businessmen and tourist professionals. The monarch also handed over trophies to the winners of the Saidia First Grand Regatta, and he awarded the trophy of the Throne Golf Club to the winners of the 2009 Saidia Throne Cup. In addition, the President of Morocco's Royal Golf Federation handed over the commemorative medal to Prince Moulay Rachid.
The evening activities were animated by live music and an extravagant fireworks display to accompany the gala dinner.
