Fez – Lahcen Haddad, Morocco’s Minister of Tourism, held the Moroccan National Tourism Office’s Board of Directors meeting on Thursday in Rabat to present the Ministry’s achievements from 2012 to 2015, including the main projects in the coming months to the end of the government mandate in 2016.
Hadad explained that since the beginning of the government mandate in 2012, the Ministry has striven to accelerate the completion of many projects under vision 2020.
The Minister stated that despite the challenges Morocco’s tourism industry has faced because of terrorist attacks around the world, mainly in France, 10.17 million tourists visited Morocco in 2015, compared to 9.3 million tourists in 2010.
The arrival index witnessed a 3 percent increase due to the strategy of attracting multiple international markets such as the UK and Germany whose visitors, increased by 12 to 13 percent annually.
Visitors from Brazil increased by 19 percent, India by 8 percent, China by 15 percent, the Middle East by 9 percent, and North America by 8 percent.
The total nights spent in official hotel establishments recorded an annual growth of 2 percent between 2012 and 2015. The national accommodation capacity increased with the creation of 42,754 additional beds, of which 21 percent are in guesthouses, 15 percent in residential hotels, 13 percent in 5-star classified hotels, and 10 percent in 3-star hotels.
The dynamic acceleration will continue through 2016, as it will reach 250,000 beds after adding 20,000 new ones, according the Minister.
