Morocco’s tourism sees record year with 13 million arrivals in 2019

(TAN): Morocco received a record 13 million tourists in 2019, up 5.2% from the earlier year, reports said.

The surge in tourist numbers contributed to MAD 78.6 billion (USD 8.15 billion approximately) in terms of revenues, as compared to MAD 73.04 billion the year before, as per reports.

The figure comprised Moroccans from the diaspora, who make up nearly half of annual visitors to the country, a report said.

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Morocco’s tourism sector reportedly crossed the 12-million tourist mark for the first time, owing mainly to its primary markets – France and Spain. Around 1.99 million French citizens reportedly visited the country in 2019. The surge in arrivals from these markets was attributed to increased air links from Morocco – with budget airlines introducing new routes to Europe, reports said.

According to reports, President of Morocco’s National Tourism Confederation, Abdellatif Kabbaj said 2019 was a record year for the country’s tourism sector, although performance could still be improved. He reportedly added that investing in infrastructure was crucial to promoting Morocco as a tourist destination.

As per reports, the North African country is home to over 2,000 hotels with a total of 400,000 beds, of which Morocco’s most visited city Marrakesh alone has 15,000 beds. However, around 45% of the hotels were occupied, which was not enough to make them profitable, reports said.

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Marrakesh, with its UNESCO-listed Old Town, and Agadir, together accounted for 57% of the 25.2 million hotel stays in 2019, as per reports.

“We need to work to achieve an occupancy rate above 70%, through strengthening the air and investing more in promotion,” Kabbaj was quoted by CGTN Africa as saying.

The tourism sector in Morocco, which created 1.9 million jobs in 2018, accounted for 19% to the Gross Domestic Product of the country in the same year.

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