Abdelaziz Benami is currently Chief Executive of VIP AFRICA - a future tour company specialized in Luxury Travel and Events. Born in 1985 in Erfoud - a small city situated in the south eastern part of the Kingdom of Morocco. He graduated from the Higher International Institute of Tourism of Tangier. Abdelaziz holds a masters degree in Economics and Legal Management of Tourism Organizations (University of Abdelmalek Essaadi - Tangier), and currently working to finish his PhD on Territorial Marketing in the UAE.
He has been an ardent in the Moroccan tourism industry, accumulating years of academic and practical experiences in tourism. Abdelaziz is an exceptional tourism marketer, visionary business leader and effective public speaker. He has a knack for easily recognizing opportunities and developing staff members to take advantage of unique situations. With almost 10 years of experience as an official tour guide serving visitors coming to Morocco, Abdelaziz considers himself as the actual ambassador of his country to the world.
1) What is your current position?
Chief Executive of VIP AFRICA – Luxury Travel & Events with a dedicated team of professional travel consultants and advocates to sustainable development offering personalized holidays to Morocco. I am also the president of the Moroccan Association of Ibn Battuta through which I and office members strive to principally promote the illustrate character of Ibn Batutta through auspiciously cultural projects.
2) What are your proudest achievements?
Being born and raised in the desert of Morocco where opportunities of academic education are almost unavailable, I am proud to have been successfully able to surmount the insurmountable by finishing my studies and obtaining university dreamlike degrees. To save my mom and sister from the rough life by getting them settled in with me in Tangier to enjoy a better quality of life and make my dream childhood come true by becoming an official tour guide operating in all Morocco. I am proud to be the pioneer and founder of the first association in the world that is mainly specialized in promoting the legendary character of Ibn Battuta. I am always proud to have been a source of a smile back to many people who lost hope in life.
3) What inspires you?
The main source of inspiration in my life is my mother whose wisdom and ongoing encouragements have played a great role in shaping my personality. The Sahara Desert where stillness prevails and where I was raised and brought up has enabled me to meet tourists visiting my hometown. Meeting people from different parts of the world inspired my soul and opened my eyes to another world of education and exploration.
4) What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?
Obstacles are numerous and unavoidable but conversely have powerfully given me strength and commitment to challenge them.
5) Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?
In fact, this can be summarized in a short story that happened to me in the middle of the Sahara Desert when I was 12 years old accompanying family members in a trading caravan. A nomad man woke up in the very early morning whom I surprisingly asked where he is going to and his answer has remained engraved in my soul since then. He said I am going to work. I replied, what work can you do in the middle of nowhere? He said, even though there is nothing to do but I create an image of work in mind and I work on it. The lesson I fully grasped is that one has to always work hard to achieve whatever goal one has.
6) What is the best aspect about your current role?
I find myself when I interact with the dedicated team of multilingual professional travel consultants which I am part of and the best part is when we excitingly work hard to please and meet the special needs of our customers.
7) And the worst?
The worst part is to successfully manage numerous tasks and responsibilities at once particularly that I am doing another masters degree, finishing my PhD, assisting my clients during their daily trips to Tangier, managing staff members at the office to reach the vision that has been drawn out as well as maintaining the productivity and cultural contribution of the Moroccan Association of Ibn Battuta.
8) What are your long term goals?
My initial goal is to turn VIP AFRICA into a reputable and leading travel company, an excellent example of sustainability in Morocco and the world alike. My long term goal is to be elected as the minister of tourism of Morocco so as to help foster the development of the whole sector, which I believe I know its mysteries.
9) If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?
I would challengingly bring social, economic and cultural issues into reality and strive to efficiently solve them without being hindered by the opposed political parties.
10) If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?
I have been always haunted by the legendary personality of Ibn Battuta whose soul of adventure, exploration and devotion to knowledge are the features that have been of exceptional admiration to me.
