Morocco had long been an agriculture-dependent economy. Over the past decade, however, the country has concurrently turned to the tourism sector as a driving force for economic growth, all the more so because it has all the ingredients of a privileged tourist destination. Here is a special report on the tourist sector written by Abdelhakim Khirane.
"The reason we are counting on the development of tourism in Morocco is that we have the geographic, natural, cultural and, above all, human resources required to fulfil that ambition. (...) Tourism is an extraordinary source of job creation for our youth, as much as a gateway to modernity, openness and human development for the country in general," King Mohammed VI
As a matter of fact, investments have strongly and steadily gravitated towards the sector, generating a great many jobs. Consequently, the sector has become a true engine of socio-economic development. Forecasts put it that the sector's significant contribution to the north African Kingdom's GDP, which is predicted to increase at a year-over-year rate of 8.5 pc, is likely to amount to 20 pc.
A strategic location and wide-ranging potentials
Morocco takes pride, and rightly so, in its strategic location, as a gateway between Africa and Europe, and its closeness to the biggest tourist-emitting markets. Besides, the country boasts stability and a wide range of natural and cultural potentials: a scenery of surpassing beauty, four colossal mountain chains, thousands of kilometres of beaches alongside the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, various monuments and required infrastructures, etc. To optimally put these assets to good account, the government has devised a package of plans and programmes, which have yielded encouraging results despite the unfavourable global context.
The programmes focus mainly on human resources, and on the setting up of more tourist training colleges and institutes aimed at promoting the sector.
Moroccan camels await the touristsIn 2001, the bold programme, Vision 2010, was launched with the aim of attracting ten million tourists by 2010. Considering its grand scale, the plan is considered to be the cornerstone of the tourism strategy as a whole.
It sets its sight on increasing the bed capacity by 160,000 hotel beds, thus bringing the total national capacity to 230,000 beds. It is expected to create 600,000 jobs, and generate investments of up to 90 billion Moroccan Dirhams (10.6 billion US dollars).
The Plan Azur, a key component of the strategy, identifies six resorts along the country’s coastline, providing 110,000 beds on 3,000 ha, with investments totalling 46 billion dirhams.
The list of projects in the sector is not intended to be exhaustive. Other projects, such as the Cala Iris project in the Al Hoceima region (north), Tamuda Bay near Tetouan, Oued Chbika in Tan Tan (south), are also programmed, while others are yet to be implemented in other parts of the country.
As the deadline is drawing nearer, the programme started to yield fruit. 7.9 million tourists visited the Kingdom in 2008; that is, an increase of 7 pc on the previous year. Receipts amounted to 58 billion dirhams.
In a similar vein, the Open Sky Agreement, concluded with the European Union in 2005, has led to a spectacular increase of 19 pc in direct flights, and a consequential drop in prices. As a result, tourists have headed for Morocco in droves.
Promoting domestic tourism
Aware of the importance of domestic tourism, the government has given special attention to this component, which accounts for 20 pc of overnight stays in rated hotels.
Domestic tourism enjoys the solicitude of the country’s highest authorities. “…domestic tourism, to which I attach special importance, should benefit from this dynamic process as well. Not only does it contribute to the well-being of our citizens, but it also gives them the opportunity to discover the many riches of their country and to be proud of all it has to offer,” king Mohammed VI has said in a message to the 7th Tourism Conference (held in Marrakech on April 28, 2007).
A myriad of plans and programmes have been worked out, including the Biladi Plan and Madain Plan to construct a number of tourist resorts that cater for the needs of domestic tourism across the country, with the aim of reaching 9 million overnight stays by 2012, up from 3.2 million in 2007.
2010 target: has hope been dashed?
The first figures of the year do not augur well for the sector. The sluggish international environment has resulted in a remarkable decline in the number of tourists visiting the Kingdom.
Overnight stays at classified tourist accommodation establishments posted, in the first month of 2009, a drop of 2 pc compared with the same period in 2008, with a 4 pc decline in the arrivals of French tourists, and –2 pc for Britons, the major foreign tourists.
In terms of tourist destinations, a downward trend was registered in the main destinations: Marrakech, Casablanca and Tangier (-5 pc each), and –12 pc for Rabat and Ouarzazate.
According to figures of the tourism department and the tourism observatory, overnight stays declined to 14.3 million in the period January-October 2008, down from 14.6 million in the same period in 2007.
To cushion the repercussions of the global downturn, the government has prepared the "CAP 2009 Plan", aimed at promoting the sector's attraction. The strategy, which defines specific measures at national and regional levels, is designed to mitigate the impact of the global crisis in the medium term to boost tourism in four priority tourist cities, namely Agadir, Casablanca, Fez and Marrakech.
According to Tourism Minister, Mohamed Boussaid, the plan’s overriding objective is to attract a larger number of foreign tourists and improve Morocco’s image as a tourist destination abroad, along with promoting domestic tourism. “We are confident that Morocco will withstand this situation, thanks to the quality of its products, its competitiveness, proximity to tourist-emitting markets and the Open Sky agreement”, he said. To further upgrade this vital sector, the ministry has announced that 80 billion dirhams will be pumped into it over the five years to come.
Beyond 2010
The Kingdom is mulling over Vision 2020. The plan will take up where Vision 2010 leaves off. This strategy will build on and draw lessons from the experience of the past six years and foster closer linkages with other key economic and social sectors like handicrafts, culture, agriculture and natural resources.
Projections expect that, in the short term, this sector will be capable of turning round. According to London-based Business Monitor International (BMI), the prospects for Morocco’s tourism industry remain buoyant. It expects tourist arrivals to grow at an average annual rate of 10 pc by 2012, bringing total tourist arrivals to 11.8 million, along with a strong rise in international tourism receipts.
In case Morocco wins this challenge, it will catch up with world-renowned tourist destinations in the region such as Egypt, which, according to the Egyptian Tourism Ministry, received 11 million tourists in 2007-2008.
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