The first repatriation flight for Thomas Cook customers from Morocco departed, Wednesday, «as planned», the British Embassy in Rabat said in a press release sent to Yabiladi. These tourists were able to return home after they booked with the British tour operator, which announced its collapse Monday, September 23. «A team from the UK and staff from the British Embassy in Rabat and British Consulate in Marrakech (…) will continue to assist passengers booked on to Thomas Cook flights from Marrakech scheduled for this week and next week», the same press release explained. The collapse of the holiday group is seen as a loss for the tourism industry in the Kingdom. The latter used to welcomed «700 000» British tourists «visiting every year», the Embassy recalled adding that «Morocco is a popular destination» fro them. For the record, a source from the Ministry of Tourism told the Spanish news agency EFE that around 2,000 Thomas Cook customers were stranded in the Kingdom and that all of them are British. The same source revealed that most of these tourists who booked with the travel firm are holidaying in two Moroccan cities. «1,300 of them are in Agadir while 650 others are in Marrakech», the same source told EFE.
