MOROCCO expects 10 million tourists this year, 6.5 per cent higher than in 2009, says Taibi Khattab, director of tourism, Middle East and Asia.
Tourism is the biggest source of foreign currency for Morocco. But the recession saw global tourism contracting 4.3 per cent last year and 6 per cent in Europe, the origin of most of Morocco’s foreign visitors.
However, Morocco managed to keep visitor numbers growing by 6.5 per cent by focusing on tourists from the GCC, whose numbers are swelling now, he says adding that Morocco is using trade shows to showcase what the Arab country has to offer for the region.
Although tourists from Europe outnumber those from the GCC, the money spent by the latter is three times more than that of the former.
“We are now pushing to win new investors for seaside hotel and leisure projects and closing deals with tour operators outside Morocco’s traditional markets,” says Khattab.
The rise in tourism receipts was the because of the quality of Moroccan hotels’ services and products and the efficiency of the tourism ministry’s strategy in this area, he says.
“If all goes well we will be able to achieve the target of earning $10 billion from tourism alone by the end of 2010,” he says.
“For that we are focusing more on selling our destinations to upper-class tourists.”
Morocco’s relatively high number of tourists has been aided by its location, tourist attractions, and relatively low price.
Cruise ships visit the ports of Casablanca and Tangier. Morocco is close to Europe and attracts visitors to its beaches. Because of its proximity to Spain, tourists in southern Spain’s coastal areas take one to three-day trips to Morocco.
And the kingdom is still heavily dependent on tourism from France and Spain with much to offer in Marrakech and Agadir on the Atlantic coast.
Tourism is increasingly focused on Morocco’s culture, such as its ancient cities. The modern tourist industry capitalises on Morocco’s ancient Roman and Islamic sites and on its landscape and cultural history. Some 60 per cent of Morocco’s tourists visit it for its culture and heritage.
The kingdom is relatively inexpensive because of the devaluation of the dirham and the high hotel prices in neighbouring countries. It has an excellent road and rail infrastructure which links the major cities and tourist destinations with ports and cities with international airports. Also low-cost airlines offer cheap flights to the country.