5.4 Million Tourists Arrived in Morocco in First Half of 2019

Rabat – The Moroccan Tourism Observatory has reported that more than five million tourists visited Morocco in the first half of 2019. The number represents a 6.6 % increase compared to the same period last year.

The observatory said that 5.4 million tourists arrived in Morocco during the first six months of this year. The Tourism industry market saw an increase in arrivals from a range of countries, especially from France, Italy, German, and Spain.

Key markets include Italy, with an increase of 12 %, France (9%), Spain (8%), German (8%).

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The arrivals among Dutch and, British and Belgian tourists also increased.

The report shows that tourists to Morocco favor Marrakech  and Agadir. The report shows that Marrakech saw an increase of 8 % of tourist arrivals, while Agadir recorded an increase of 4% .

Last year, Morocco received 12.3 million tourists, recording an increase of 8 M from the previous year.

Tourist arrivals in Morocco totalled 11.3 million in the first 11 months of 2018, an average of one million tourists per month which represented an increase of 8.5% compared to 2017,  the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) said in January.

Marrakech, top Moroccan tourist destination for local and international visitors, recorded over 2.4 million tourist arrivals from January to November last year. The city  also recorded to 2.6 million scheduled hotel stays through the end of 2018, according to Morocco’s Tourism Observatory.

Meanwhile Agadir received 1,038,769 tourists in the first 11 months of 2018, up 13% from the same period the previous year.

Morocco is considered as  safe as most European countries, the US, and Canada, having a low risk level, according to the 2019 Travel Risk Map.

Morocco has introduced a vision to enhance the sector. The 2020 vision offers “a spatial planning policy of tourism offer, guarantor of the benefits to spread, and the socio-economic development of all the Kingdom’s regions,” according to the Ministry of Tourism.

Morocco’s projects to enhance tourism include the preservation of Morocco’s heritage and legacy.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, legacy and heritage enhance “Morocco’s cultural identity through the structuring and valuation of tangible and intangible heritage of the Kingdom and the construction of coherent and attractive tourism products.”

In 2018, the research group BMI forecast that tourism revenues would continue to support Morocco’s economy.

BMI said that tourism generated total revenues of MAD 70 billion in 2018.