Moroccan hotels to provide additional 40,000 beds for world cup-2006

Part of its efforts to win the bid to host the World Cup 2006, Morocco said it will provide an additional 40,000 beds.

Morocco's present accommodation capacity sands at 90,000 beds, which is not enough to meet the increasing demand during such a major event as the World Cup, Tourism Minister, Hassan Sebbar told a Moroccan daily.

Morocco intends to add 30,000 beds between 2000 and 2003, he said, before calling for more efforts to endow the country with the necessary means to meet the requirements of the World Cup.

Several measures are envisioned to encourage operators invest more in the tourism sector, he said, citing the setting of competitive prices for land plots purchase and the reduction of duties on imported equipment.