TUI reports almost a hundred Dutch holidaymakers in Marrakech, "people are fine"

TUI has almost a hundred Dutch holidaymakers in Marrakech. They had to temporarily leave their hotels last night because of the earthquake in Morocco. "As far as I know at the moment, these people are fine," a spokesperson for the travel company said. "They will be able to return once it has been determined that it is safe. The travel organization is with them and in contact with them."

TUI currently has no guests in the coastal city of Agadir, where the earthquake was also felt. However, 125 people are still traveling around Morocco, either individually or in groups. "We are currently contacting travel guests to determine if they are unharmed and safe."

However, the travel company does not yet have any information, for example, about damage to hotels. TUI therefore also does not yet know whether all guests in Morocco will be able to complete their vacation as planned. "Early this morning, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the damage to hotels on site. We are monitoring the situation closely," the spokesperson said. "If there are tremors but no damage, they should be able to simply end their vacation."

The provinces of al-Haouz, Marrakech, Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant were particularly affected by the earthquake, where buildings collapsed or were damaged. As a result, people had to spent the night outdoors.

Also 34-year-old Amsterdam resident Youssef Casa had to spend the night on the street because he could not return to the hotel. “You saw cracks in the walls. Hotel guests no longer knew what to do. Only then did the news trickle in that it was an earthquake ” he told AD in an interview.

Shortly before the earthquake occurred, Youssef was with his family and friends in a restaurant in the old city of Marrakesh. And suddenly, out of nowhere, everything started to shake. "Everything shook back and forth. It looked like wave movements like you see in the sea!"

Youssef and his family are still in shock. There are no concrete plans yet on how the 34-year-old will get back to the Netherlands.“We want to return to the Netherlands as soon as possible, but there are no flights this weekend. We have to wait now, that's all we can do,” he told the newspaper.

TUI itself does not fly from the Netherlands to Morocco. For questions about flights, the spokesperson therefore refers to Transavia. The airline announced that the flight schedule to the country remains unchanged until further notice. So there are still outbound and return flights. According to Transavia, there have been no sudden cancellations or additional ticket bookings to the country since the earthquake.

At KLM, Morocco is not on the destination list. The country is also not currently on offer with the major travel companies Corendon and Sunweb. Consequently, they also have no guests there.

Furthermore, about 10 people reported to the ANWB emergency center Friday night after the earthquake in Morocco. "They are vacationers who have been in trouble due to the quake," a spokesperson informed.

The spokesperson emphasized that a more complete picture of the number of reports can be given during the morning. Then their exact request for help will also become clear.