Tangier- The Minister of Tourism, Lahcen Haddad, who is participating in the Morocco-Russia Economic Forum that is being held in Moscow on June 9-10, said that attracting tourists from emerging economies, especially Russia, is one of the basic goals of Morocco’s tourism vision for 2020.
According to a communiqué of the Ministry of Tourism, Haddad, who is leading a Moroccan delegation composed of stakeholders from private and public tourism sectors, stated that many effective measures have been adopted with respect to promoting and marketing tourism to Morocco and providing incentives for investment.
Haddad noted that Morocco had attracted more than 47,000 4Russian tourists in 2013, an increase of 59% over 2012.
“Though the initial results are so far encouraging, intensive efforts should be made to ensure easy access to the Moroccan market which is full of enormous potential,” said Lahcen Haddad.
He also mentioned that the Kingdom has a strategic location on the African continent which enables it to be a favorable partner for Russian investors.
Morocco seeks to attract 800,000 Russian tourists in 2020. To reach this goal, the ministry aims to accelerate the rate of maritime and coastal tourism which are magnets for Russian tourists, as well as to promote airline travel with Russia.
More than 15 million tourists travel every year to Morocco and spend about 1,300 MAD per day.
The communiqué stated that the Morocco-Russia economic forum aims to encourage information exchange and better economic relations between the two countries.
It also stated that “it is a great opportunity for both sides to promote economic relations and discover future mutually beneficial plans.”
Edited by Elisabeth Myers
