Aghroud Tourist Station: Tarik Oualalou’s Firm Selected by SMIT

The Moroccan Society for Tourism Engineering (SMIT), whose land was inherited from the former National Agency for the Development of the Bay of Agadir (SONABA), has awarded the contract for the preparation of urban planning and subdivision studies for the future Aghroud resort, as well as the monitoring of the related works, to the architectural firm Tarik Oualalou.

This award comes less than five months after the launch of the competition. It should be noted that the selected firm ranked first, achieving the highest overall score – 99.8 out of 100, including a technical score of 87.5, a perfect 100 for the estimate and schedule, and a financial score of 98. This step marks the culmination of the implementation of this future seaside resort.

In total, eight architectural firms submitted proposals for this major tourism development project located north of Agadir. Regarding the financial proposal of the selected firm, it amounts to MAD 98.366 million inclusive of taxes, with a rate of MAD 138,000 per hectare ex‑VAT. The competition concerns only the land base of the future resort, which will cover 594 hectares. For its development, a budget of MAD 1 billion is expected. The purpose of the project is to strengthen the seaside offering of the Agadir Souss‑Massa destination.

A strong potential for tourism development

As a reminder, this phase is scheduled within the regional tourism roadmap that implements the national strategy at the Agadir Souss‑Massa level. According to Imad Barrakad, General Director of SMIT, speaking at the MediTour Forum in Agadir, “the next step is already taking shape at Aghroud. This project represents one of the Kingdom’s most important tourism development potentials, with a projected capacity exceeding 12,000 beds,” he emphasizes.

In detail, the first development phase will focus on a 2,000‑bed hotel‑club spread over 70 hectares on the seafront, while an additional 5,000 beds will be concentrated along the coastline in hotel lots, with parcel sizes limited to a maximum of five hectares per lot for the rest of the resort.

Complementarily, the upper section will feature other types of accommodation. One of the challenges of this competition is the integration and upgrading of the upper and lower villages within the future tourist resort, as both villages lie inside the project’s land footprint. The corniche will be developed along the coastal frontage as part of this vast tourism project, taking the form of a pedestrian promenade built in phases, stretching 2.5 kilometers along the sea.

Other investments within the destination

In synergy with this coastal momentum, the “living heart” will host entertainment facilities such as shops, restaurants and open‑air performance squares. As a reminder, a Regional Development Company (SDR) has been proposed to manage the planning, equipment and promotion of the future Aghroud seaside resort. Pending the appointment of a developer‑operator, the company has been named “SDR Aghroud Development.”

Moreover, this project adds to other investments in the destination, notably the development of the Founty tourism zone, which is expected to eventually reach a capacity of around 16,000 tourist beds, and Taghazout Bay, which has recently increased its capacity with the opening of the Marriott Taghazout Bay hotel, adding 250 rooms or 500 beds. The total bed capacity of the resort is therefore 4,800 beds.

Source: leseco