Morocco tourism income is at new high according to the Ministry of Tourism. Income has set a new record, after increasing 25.8 percent during the first nine months of the year.
The ministry said income hit a record €3.67bn (about $4.5bn), while passenger numbers for the same period had increased 9 percent. Morocco has estimated that tourism earnings would be between €4.1bn and €4.5bn, against €3.7bn in 2005, said the ministry.
The ministry added that tourist numbers would reach 6.5 million for 2006, up from last year’s 5.8 million visitors. The country’s bed occupancy rate had also improved from 49 percent to 50 percent during this year.
Morocco plans to encourage 10 million tourists by 2010 and was currently pushing tourism development throughout the country to make this possible. The international airport of Marrakech will receive up to 10 million passengers by 2009, when extension works will be finished, according to the Director General of the Moroccan Airport Office (ONDA), Abdelhanine Benallou.
Speaking at the General Assembly of "Airports Council International" held in Cape Town (November 7 through 10), Benallou stressed that the capacity of the airport of Marrakech will rise to 10Mn passengers by 2010, and will consequently be similar to that of Mohammed V airport in Casablanca.
After the end of extension works, the International airport of Marrakech received about 1.5Mn passengers up to November, he recalled, noting that it may receive 6Mn passengers by the year 2007.
Touching on Morocco's efforts to promote tourism in the framework of the country's Vision 2010, Benallou highlighted that the Kingdom had launched several projects ranging from airport extension to airport creation.
In related news it has been announced that an airport will be launched in the western city of Essaouira by the end 2008 as well as a new airport in Tangier, while the airports of Casablanca, Oujda (west) and Dakhla (south) will be extended.
At the same time, economic growth has contributed to the creation of 272,000 new job opportunities between 2003 and 2005. This was announced today by the Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Mustafa Mansouri.
Speaking at a House of Representatives (lower house) question time, Mansouri said the pace of job creation increased in 2003 through 2005 to reach 272,000 new jobs opportunities, compared to 147,000 jobs in 2000-2003.
Unemployment rate among degree holders stood at 26.8% in 2005, compared to 28.4% in 2000, the official said. Mansouri recalled that the unemployment rate has gone down 2.5 and it stood up by 11% in 2005, pointing out that the rate has gone down for the first time in 35 years below the 10% bar.
Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
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