Intrepid Travel has canceled Morocco departures scheduled to depart before Sept. 13 in the wake of a 6.8-magnitude earthquake Friday that has reportedly killed some 2,500 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Affected travelers will be contacted in order to reschedule their trip or receive a refund.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Intrepid’s trips to Morocco will resume after Sept. 14 and itineraries will not include the Atlas Mountains, which suffered the most damage from the earthquake. Visits to Marrakech will still take place but time spent in the city will be significantly reduced as damage continues to be assessed in the Old City, an area that sustained damage, according to Intrepid’s ground team.<\/p>\n
Travelers who have trips to Morocco booked between Sept. 13 and 17 will have the option to cancel and receive travel credits for a future booking.<\/p>\n
Intrepid said all 604 of its travelers who are currently on trips in Morocco, in addition to staff and tour guides, have been accounted for since the earthquake and are safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Safety is always Intrepid’s number one priority — we’re relieved to have been able to account for all our customers,” said Zina Bencheikh, Intrepid’s managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, who is based in Morocco.\u202f\u202f”Our thoughts go out to everyone in Morocco who has been affected by this disaster and we will do everything we can to support communities as they rebuild.”<\/p>\n
Intrepid has launched an emergency appeal to provide aid to Morocco through its nonprofit foundation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Intrepid Foundation will match all donations made to the Morocco Earthquake Appeal — up to $100,000 Australian dollars — in order to provide direct financial support to the grassroots organizations Education for All and the High Atlas Foundation, which are providing emergency relief to those affected by the earthquake in the form of essential provisions such as food, shelter, clean water and medical supplies.<\/p>\n