LOCATION

The symposium will take place in the Moroccan city of Marrakech. It has a population of over 3,000,000. The official languages are Arabic (with Berber dialects) and Tamazight (the language of the Amazigh people, whose ancient culture, history and language are being actively restored); Spanish, Castilian, English and French are also spoken. The currency is the Dirham (denoted by Dh and also by MAD; the exchange rate (November 2007) is 100 Dh ≅ € 9 ≅ $US 13).

Marrakech is above all a city of drama. Its spectacular setting against the snow-capped High Atlas Mountains lingers long in the minds of most travellers, and the famous Djemaa el-Fna square provides perhaps the greatest open-air spectacle in the world.

Be drawn back into a world of frenzied motion, where jugglers and storytellers jostle for position with snake charmers, magicians and acrobats. Your nose will guide you to row upon row of open-air food stalls whose pungent smoke fills the air with mouth-watering aromas.


Map and text reproduced with permission from the Lonely Planet
website (c) Lonely Planet Publications, where much more information on Marrakech and Morocco can be found.
The weather in Marrakech is sunny nearly all year round, with pleasantly warm summers and mild winters. The hottest months of the year are July to September, but there is no humidity. In May the average daily temperature range is 15 to 28C.

The symposium will be held in the 5-star Kenzi Farah Hotel, Avenue du Président Kennedy, Hivernage, Marrakech. Located in a large garden in the vicinity of the famous Koutoubia mosque, the hotel is also near the largest souk (traditional market) in Morocco. It will be in this exciting location that CHT-08 will take place.

Here are some photographs of the hotel, and of Marrakech. And here is a link to a recent article from the newspaper USA Today which contains a detailed description of Morocco. The supplement was produced by United World Ltd.

Information about visa requirements has been supplied by the Moroccan Consulate General in Sydney. However, delegates are advised to make their own enquiries as well.