Moroccan cafe and restaurant owners say they won't require vaccine proof from customers

Most cafes and restaurants owners in Morocco decided not to require the vaccine pass from customers before accesses their spaces, as ordered by the public authorities, according to Hespress sources.

Vaccine passes are required to enter hotels and tourist establishments, restaurants, cafes, closed spaces, shops, sports halls, and hamams as of October 21, said the government in a statement, urging people to get vaccinated.

A meeting was held by professionals who are members of the National Association of Owners of Cafés and Restaurants in Morocco, on Wednesday, during which it was decided not to require vaccine pass from customers before their access, according to Hespress sources.

“The professionals agreed on this in order to avoid issues with customers, which would affect their relationship with them in terms of loyalty as well as income,” the same source added.

“The professionals refuse to impose the vaccine pass to customers, considering that it will contribute to deepening the economic crisis experienced by the sector since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic,” it specified.

Noureddine Al-Herrak, head of this association, explained that “the managing office refuses to engage in imposing vaccine pass to customers,” he said, adding, “the professionals were expecting from the new government to give more attention to this sector, because of the suffering it had experienced for two years, instead of imposing a mandatory vaccine pass ,” he added.

The same spokesman pointed out that “the fact of requiring a vaccine pass from customers will push them to look for other places that don’t require it, which will result in another loss.”

Morocco is not the only country that imposes vaccine passes, as it joins other nations, including Canada, the US, France and  Israel who mandate vaccine proof on their populations. China was the first country in the world to roll out the vaccine pass since March 2021.