Morocco: + 9% increase in tourist arrivals

A total of 9.7 million tourists visited Morocco between January and October 2017, an increase of + 9% compared to the same period last year, says the Tourism Observatory

The number of foreign tourists (TES) increased by + 14%, while the arrivals of Moroccans living abroad (MRE) increased by 5%, says the Observatory of Tourism which has just published its statistics on the Moroccan tourism covering the first 10 months of 2017.

This rise affected the main issuing markets, in particular Germany (14%), Holland (8%) and France (7%), according to the same source. As for emerging tourism markets for Morocco, they maintain their upward trend, with China recording a 203% increase, while Japan, South Korea, the United States and Brazil posted respective increases of 40%. %, 33%, 30% and 51%. The total nights spent in classified tourist accommodation establishments recorded a 15% increase during the first 10 months of 2017 (+ 19% for non-resident tourists and + 8% for residents).

The two tourist hubs of Marrakesh and Agadir alone generated 60% of total overnight stays at the end of May, the Observatory said, noting that these two cities experienced an increase of 18% and 12%, respectively. Other destinations also performed well, especially the cities of Fez and Tangier with respective increases of 37% and 26%. Occupancy rate until the end of October 2017,  reached 44%, up 4 points over the same period last year.

In addition, revenues generated by tourism activity by non-residents in Morocco amounted to MAD 59.2 billion (MMDH) at the end of October 2017, compared with MAD 56.1 billion a year earlier, an increase of 5%, 4%. During the month of October, the number of tourist arrivals at the border posts increased by 15% compared to the same month of 2016 (+ 24% for the TES and + 1% for the MRE).

With its political stability and notable economic progress, Morocco did well in the latest survey of the Intermat Construction Observatory. It is at the head of a ranking of the most attractive countries of the African continent.

The results of the analysis were previewed this Wednesday in Casablanca, at a conference dedicated to the presentation of the International Exhibition of Construction and Infrastructure, scheduled for April 23 to 28, 2018 in Paris with the participation from Morocco. Morocco has emerged as the most attractive country on the continent out of a dozen countries with high potential.

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