Saturday, December 30, 2017

2017 - a Record Year For Moroccan Tourism

Eleven million. This is the number of visitors that Morocco should welcome by the end of 2017. A record figure revealed by Saïd Mouhid, president of the Moroccan Tourism Observatory


Said Mouhid welcomed this rebound but says, "The final figures are not yet available, but we are already sure to exceed for the first time the 11 million tourists". 2017 will also see the bar of the 22 million nights crossed and generate revenues in currency amounting to 68 billion dirham against 64 billion last year.

In detail, it is the French who are still - by far - the top contingent of tourists, with more than a third of arrivals, followed by Spaniards, Germans and British.

Nearly half of the visitors are of Moroccan origin, and Moroccans living abroad (MRE) are considered tourists.

This sustained recovery of the tourist flow is the result of actions undertaken by professionals of the sector, headed by the Moroccan National Office of Tourism (ONMT), which multiplied throughout the year partnerships with airlines , thus strengthening the country's air offer, especially domestic flights, while leveraging digital technology to promote the destination.

Marrakech, Agadir, and Casablanca are the most visited cities. "Marrakech will end the year on record performance, exceeding two million visitors," said AFP the director of the Regional Council of Tourism (CRT) of Marrakech, Abderrahim Bentbib. He attributes this "embellishment" to the launch of new airlines, to "the excellent quality-price ratio of Marrakech hotels" and the opening of new cultural projects like the "Yves Saint Laurent Museum".

As a key sector of the Moroccan economy, tourism accounts for 10% of the national wealth. In order to further strengthen this sector, Moroccan tourism promoters are betting on new markets, particularly China and Russia, with the abolition of visas. With a few tens of thousands more arrivals, Russians and Chinese still barely exceed 100,000 visitors.

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