Chinese Tourists Drive Restaurant Growth

During the first five months of the year, nearly 100,000 Chinese tourists visited the kingdom taking advantage of the visa exemption introduced in 2016

According to the representative office of the Moroccan National Office of Tourism (ONMT) in China, 120,000 Chinese nationals visited the kingdom in 2017. But in the first five months of this year, this number has already reached 100,000.

"Since Morocco announced the visa waiver for Chinese citizens in June 2016, the number of Chinese tourists to Morocco has increased rapidly and the boom is far from over," reports Global Times.

Chinese restaurants in Morocco are among the first beneficiaries of the massive influx of Chinese tourists.

Liu Mei, owner of a Chinese restaurant in Rabat, told Xinhua that after the visa waiver for Chinese citizens, the number of Chinese tourists in his restaurant has increased significantly.

In 2017, the turnover of its restaurant has doubled compared to the previous year.

Huang Zhiyong, a restaurateur in Casablanca, said his restaurant was also doing good business. At present, it receives an average of 6,000 clients per month, 70% of which are Chinese tourists and businessmen.

Before the visa exemption for Chinese citizens, the number of Chinese restaurants in Morocco was no more than five. At present, the number has increased to over 20.

A Chinese travel agency in Morocco, AMC Voyages, says it is very optimistic about Morocco's tourism market. Its director, Lin Chaoxin, told Xinhua that since the launch of the visa-free policy in June 2016, Chinese tourists have shown growing interest in visiting Morocco.

He said Morocco has unique tourism resources and that the number of Chinese travelers to the kingdom over the next decade will continue to increase. A trend confirmed by the Chinese ambassador to Morocco, Li Li, who said that since the exemption of Morocco's visa for Chinese citizens, the number of Chinese tourists has increased significantly, ranking first in the growth of foreign tourists in the kingdom.

Li said that 2018 marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and Morocco "will seize the opportunity to deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields, including tourism."

Hundreds of Chinese are employed in the tourism industry in Morocco. Zhang Kai, an Arabic-language graduate from the Beijing Foreign Studies University, who has been working in the sector for two years in Morocco, believes the influx of Chinese tourists will continue.

The People's Daily, a major Chinese newspaper , says that at the moment, in spite of hot weather, one can observe Chinese people everywhere in Morocco, from Tangier to the desert of the Saharan provinces.

The Chinese daily comments that since the abolition of visas for Chinese citizens in June 2016, the number of Chinese tourists in Morocco continues to increase, and this trend is not about to weaken.

It is that Morocco has many attractions, said the Chinese daily quoting, among others, the long coastline, as well as the Sahara desert, snow-capped mountains, ancient cities and other scenic spots and a rich cultural heritage, in short abundant tourist resources.

According to the Chinese newspaper, tourism is one of the main industries of Morocco. By 2020, the Moroccan government hopes to make the country one of the top 20 tourist destinations in the world. As a result, Morocco is paying more and more attention to Chinese tourists, who represent significant potential.

The paper reports that, during the China-Morocco Tourism Forum, held last February in Casablanca, Mohamed Sajid, the Minister of Tourism, said that Morocco attaches great importance to cooperation in the field of tourism. tourism with China. He also pledged to continue to improve infrastructure, hotel standards, transport quality and to strengthen air transport capacity between the two countries. Ultimately, the minister hopes to attract 500,000 Chinese tourists each year by 2020, with the implementation of this policy of openness in this market.

However, some Moroccans question the target of only 500,000, given that there are 400 million Chinese tourists who leave each year on vacation.

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