Meet our BOOKED Trips Morocco Partner: Inclusive Morocco
Partnership is at the core of BOOKED Trips book-inspired experiences. We support local creatives, guides, and businesses on each our experiences. We’re excited to be partnering with Inclusive Morocco for our November 2-11, 2025 BOOKED Trips Morocco experience. This partnership will ensure your tourism dollars support locally-owned businesses and stay in the local economy.
Created in 2020 by Bilal El Hammoumy and Rania Chentouf, Inclusive Morocco is the country’s first openly queer-founded and -led travel company wants to help all kinds of travelers and locals be celebrated and supported. Inclusive Morocco was featured as one of Conde Nast Traveler’s 2024 Bright Ideas in Travel and prioritizes queer-owned businesses in a country where same-sex sexual activity remains illegal. It recommends friendly hotels and restaurants, and hires from the queer community for its 100% Moroccan staff, in addition to supporting local small NGOs and LGBTQ+ advocates.
We got the chance to sit down with Bilal to learn a little bit more about him and his work.
Tell us a little bit about you and what inspired you to start Inclusive Morocco.
My name is Bilal, and I was born and raised in Morocco: a place of deep contrasts, vibrant energy, and endless stories. I started Inclusive Morocco because I wanted to create the kind of travel company I wish had existed when I was younger: one that embraces all identities, honors local stories, and truly connects people to the heart of the country. Inclusive Morocco was born from a desire to do things differently: to offer a kind of travel that feels personal, poetic, and human. We believe travel should expand your world, not shrink it to a checklist.
What is your favorite city in Morocco? Describe your perfect weekend there. What are some of the underrated experiences you wish more people would have in the city?
Fez. Always Fez. It’s the soul of Morocco: intellectual, spiritual, and unapologetically complex. There’s something magical about how time slows down within its walls. It demands your attention, and in return, it offers you depth. My perfect weekend in Fez would start with waking up to the soft morning light filtering through the mashrabiya screens of a traditional riad. I’d wander the medina early—before the world fully wakes—listening to the rhythm of artisans opening their shops, the sound of water trickling through ancient fountains, the scent of fresh bread baking in neighborhood ovens.
Lunch would be in a quiet courtyard at The Ruined Garden, followed by a visit to a hidden zellij workshop or a stop by the Bou Inania Madrasa just to sit in its quiet symmetry. In the evening, maybe a hammam followed by a rooftop dinner as the call to prayer weaves through the city like a lullaby.
What I wish more people knew? That Fez isn’t just about the famous tanneries. It’s about the subtle beauty-the local weavers, the Andalusian gardens, the libraries tucked away behind unmarked doors, and the deep, philosophical conversations you end up having with complete strangers. Fez gives you exactly what you’re ready for-no more, no less.
When we first connected you recommended our trip read Dreams of Trespass by Fatima Mernissi. What do you love about this book? Why is it an important read for travelers to Morocco?
Dreams of Trespass holds a special place in my heart. It’s lyrical, intimate, and full of wisdom. Fatima Mernissi invites us into her childhood in a Moroccan harem, but also into a world of questions: about freedom, gender, tradition, and identity.
For travelers, it offers a deeper lens through which to see Morocco; not just as a beautiful destination, but as a living, breathing society with layered histories. It’s a reminder that the Morocco you see today is built on centuries of negotiation between the personal and the political, the sacred and the secular, the past and the future.
At BOOKED Trips we bring travelers from the pages of some of our favorite books to the places they’re set in. What’s a book that transports you to a specific place in the world that you’d recommend to others?
I always return to The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. It wraps you in the mysterious, melancholic beauty of Barcelona. Every time I read it, I want to get lost in the city’s Gothic Quarter, searching for a forgotten bookshop or a whispered secret.
Zafón creates a Barcelona that feels just slightly out of time—romantic, haunted, and full of shadows. It’s the kind of book that makes you want to book a ticket before you’ve even finished the last page.
How can people support you and your work?
Honestly, by showing up with curiosity and open hearts. Share our story, travel with us, recommend us to your friends who want something deeper from their travels. Inclusive Morocco is more than a company: it’s a conversation. One where every traveler, guide, artisan, and storyteller plays a part.
If our vision resonates with you, join us. And if you’re someone with influence in the travel world, help amplify the voices of people doing things differently. That’s how change happens: in small, intentional steps, together.
