Eight percent increase in tourists visiting Morocco

Some 5 million tourists visited Morocco in Jan-Jul 2009

According to the Moroccan tourism authorities, around 5 million tourists visited Morocco over January-July 2009, an increase of 8% compared with the same period of last year.

French tourists topped the list with 1.94 million (+8%), followed by the Spaniards (1.11 million, + 14 %), the Belgians (291,000, +16 %), the Dutch (273,000, +14 %), the Germans (259,000, +4 %), the Britons (209,000, -10 %) and the Italians (186,000, +10 %). The arrivals of Scandinavian tourists showed a stagnation.

The rise had no impact on the number of overnight stays which slipped by 2%, reaching some 9.5 million against 9.66 million a year earlier. The drop in overnight stays is due to the decrease posted by the French market (-5%) and the British (-18%), which represent 81% of the drop. As for the Spanish and Arab markets, they showed a rise of 3% and 4% respectively.

Marrakesh making a comeback.

Marrakesh is reviving its 1960s reputation as North Africa's hot spot, the American newspaper Pittsburg Post-Gazette said on Monday.


Under the title "Marrakesh: City of Souks, Snakes and Side Trips", the daily says that in 2006, the Moroccan government invested $2 billion in tourism-centered projects, such as five-star hotels, gussied up riads (guesthouses) and designated a tourist police force to patrol the Medina to tamp down overly aggressive merchants (although you'll still be hassled).

The changes seem to be working, says the paper, as a total of 1.5 million tourists -- more than the population of Marrakesh -- hit the city in 2006.

Describing the Jemaa El Fna with its snake charmers and “hypnotic” music, this location offers “the most intense blend of sights, sounds and scents I have ever witnessed,” the author says.

“If you are a foodie who loves to shop, you must go to Marrakech. The cuisine is cheap and delicious, and you can design an apartment in Arabian Nights chic for less than half what it would cost in the United States. At press time, the exchange rate was eight dirhams per dollar,” the newspaper notes.

The Pittsburg post-gazette advises tourists to visit some places in the Red City, such as the Musee de Marrakesh, Badi Palace and Medersa Ben Youssef, North Africa's oldest Koranic school.

The author also moves to Essaouira, a coastal hamlet three hours west of Marrakesh. “You know you're approaching the sea when the arid heat of Marrakesh shifts to cool breezes and the pink and coral buildings give way to blue and white ones,” she says.

The newspaper reminds us of Jimi Hendrix and Cat Stevens who put Essaouira on the map with visits in the late 1960s, and it has managed to retain its laid-back, hippie charm despite decades of commercialism. Films, including Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven" and Oliver Stone's "Alexander" were shot here.

“The essence of this town is its untouched beauty,” the newspaper notes, considering that Essaouira “reminded us of a modest Mykonos, the Greek island. It had the same brilliant sunlight bouncing off the whitewashed buildings,” the author says.

If the author loved “the kinetic energy of Marrakesh and the sleepiness of Essaouira”, “it was a short road trip through the Ourika Valley and into the tiny village of Setti Fatma, with its modest waterfalls, that made her fall in love with Morocco.” Again, the landscape drastically shifted to lush, rolling valleys dotted with wildflowers, she stresses.