UDSO Festival – We stand with Marrakech
On the evening of September 8, Morocco suffered a terrible earthquake that seriously affected the villages of the High Atlas 100 km from Marrakech and (to the day) more than 2500 deaths, mainly in remote villages. We would like to express our unconditional solidarity and support for the Moroccan people. Moments of crisis highlight the strength and resilience of united communities, and Morocco is already recovering from this ordeal with courage and determination.
The whole country unites to support those most affected, and everyone is taking action:
“To bring our committed, supportive and citizen business assistance to our city of Marrakech and the surrounding regions, we are already actively in contact with associations operating in about fifty hard-hit villages in the areas of Asni, Ouirgane, Ourika and Amizmiz to distribute basic food and clothing. And later, we will support them for reconstruction.” – Jean Alexandre Bauchet Bouhlal – Managing Director of Es Saadi Group
In Marrakech, it is especially the center of the city, famous for its old buildings, which suffered from the tremor. The Hivernage area with newer buildings, where the Es Saadi resort and the Festival’s partner hotels are located, was spared the tragedy.
The Es Saadi technical teams have been present on the Resort since the first hours to ensure that the Hotel, Palace, Casino and Office buildings do not present any risk. Certified inspection firms did also visit to carry out all security checks.
Don’t let Marrakech down
Although the first reaction upon hearing the news of the disaster was to cancel a UDSO Poker Festival; we were touched (the casino teams & UDSO) from Saturday morning, by the support of players already registered:
The best thing to bring them strength is to bring people. You’ll see, if it’s maintained I’ll be there – Chamseddine Rajbaoui – double winner UDSO
The country needs help to rebuild, and most of the events planned in Marrakech have been confirmed: such as the summit of the general meetings of the World Bank and the IMF that will take place in October with 14,000 people expected. Tourism is one of the country’s main economic sources and human support is crucial to prepare for reconstruction. We have therefore decided to maintain the UDSO Festival as planned from September 29 to October 8, 2023.
The Charity tournament initially planned on the program will be dedicated to the victims of the disaster. Additional support actions will be put in place, more details will be announced between now and the event.
