Welcome to Marrakech, the most known cultural, historic, and economic center of Morocco with a well-organized tourist infrastructure! IMMEA will take place just after the end of the summer tourist season. The beautiful weather and friendly service with moderate prices are expected.

Arrival As Morocco is a tourist country, there are a lot of competing economic companies that serve the International airport of Marrakech, Menara (RAK). You may arrive also at other International airports in the country: Mohammed-V-(Casablanca) (CMN), which has a convenient train connection with Marrakech, or Al Massira (Agadir) (AGA), situated in the famous touristic resort at Atlantic beach.

Regular Companies that have the most frequent flights to Morocco from Europe are Royal Air Maroc (more economic) and Air France. Practically all North African companies are also connected with Morocco. Depending on the day of the flight, they can propose the very attractive tariffs, if book in advance.

Low-Cost companies (EasyJet, Jet4you, Ryanair, TUIfly... ) that serve the airport of Marrakech are numerous, economic, and quite reasonable, but sometimes don’t appear in the Internet.

We recommend using the websites www.skyscanner.net or www.momondo.com or your travel agency to localize them.

Since the conference will take place at the end of the hot tourist season, we strongly advise you to reserve your tickets as soon as possible to achieve the best result.

From/to the airport. The airport of Marrakech is about 15-20 min from the city by taxi. Change the money at the terminal and take the “petit taxi" (small yellow car) at the parking square. If there is no meter, AGREE ON THE PRICE BEFORE sitting in the car and lock your luggage. The price is negotiable but it should not exceed Dh 100 (Dh 150 at night) per car (not per passenger) to get the downtown. Take another cab with no discussion in case of disagreement. The price on the way back can be 15-20% lower.

Change The rates in airports, banks, large hotels, etc, are almost the same: 1 EURO = 11 Dh. ATM can charge 5% for your card

Taxi It is very common to use the small yellow “petit taxi” to move in Marrakech. They are quite cheap, Dh 10-20 inside the downtown and 50% higher at night. In most cases, you can simply flag the taxi in the street, but take time in important cases when you should go to the conference session or to the Airport, especially in the early morning. As far as we know there is no central reservation for the taxi but ask also your hotel reception.

In most cases, there is no problem to use the taxi but several “rules” should be respected to avoid surprises.

The meter in a taxi is obligatory but sometimes it is absent. In this case, AGREE ON THE PRICE BEFORE sitting in the car and locking your luggage. Be sure that you understand the driver correctly. It is best to write the price on paper and show it to the driver. Don’t negotiate too much. Just take another taxi. Keep the coins; the driver never has the change. You don't need to pay for extras (luggage, etc). The price is negotiated per car (not per passenger), but it is difficult to avoid the “extra” passengers along the route. Prefer the older driver in the new car. Don’t tell to the driver that you are the first time in Morocco. In case of a strong disagreement, remember that this is just the part of the performance, putting the money on the seat and/or telling that you will call the police. But if the driver is really sympathetic, give him Dh 2-3 more...

Souvenirs Surely you will buy the souvenirs... The heart of the medieval town, the ancient market (souk) at place Djemaa El-Fna is the most appropriate place for this. You can negotiate and decrease the price by on 30%, 50%, 70% ... but finally you will find the same thing in the supermarket even cheaper. This is not surprising. The market Djemaa El-Fna is like a luxury boutique, you pay for the pleasure of negotiation. The best practice would be to visit the souvenir shop at regular prices beforehand. Here are several addresses: bd. 27 and bd. 221 Av. Mohammed V, (not far from IMMEA), bd. 169 -171 rue Mohammed lbakkal (behind Av. Mohammed VI) etc. However, we don't advise entering into the dialog if you are not really motivated to buy something. Oriental culture has a thousand-year culture of negotiation and convictions...