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Rabat – The 2020 Travel Risk Map from International SOS, the world’s largest medical and travel security services firm, featured Morocco among the safest countries for travelers again this year.
The map bases its statistics based on several criteria, including threats from political violence and social unrest, as well as medical risk, road safety, petty crime, and the domestic impact of COVID-19.
Morocco, according to the ranking, has an overall low-risk level for travelers. It ranks alongside the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, and much of Western Europe.
Morocco has maintained the same low-risk status for several years.
Regional comparisons
The 2020 Travel Risk Map shows Morocco is safer than several countries in the region, including Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Mauritania, and Libya.
On a continental scale, only a handful of African countries such as Senegal, Gabon, Namibia, and Zambia have the same low-risk level as Morocco. The North African country is safer than South Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya.
In the Middle East and North Africa region, Morocco is also safer than Saudi Arabia and Israel, which have a medium-risk level. Low-risk countries in the MENA region include Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan.
Medical risk
Morocco also earned a low level of medical travel risk.
International SOS rates medical safety according to the prevalence of infectious diseases, environmental threats, the availability of emergency and dental services, access to quality prescription drugs, medical evacuation, and potential language barriers.
International SOS indicates that the medical criteria used in the 2020 ranking also assess the impact of COVID-19.
In this category, the 2020 Travel Risk Map shows Morocco is performing better than other countries in the region, including Algeria (variable risk), Mauritania (medium), Niger (very high), and Ivory Coast (medium).
Morocco was a medium-risk country in the 2019 Travel Risk Map in terms of medical risk.
COVID-19 domestic operations impact
In addition to influencing medical risk rankings, COVID-19 produced another new indicator in the 2020 Travel Risk Map.
The COVID-19 Domestic Operations category shows an analysis of business-critical indicators, including the impact of COVID-19 on the “ability to operate in a certain location.”
Like several other regions in Africa, Morocco’s COVID-19 Domestic Operations impact sale is depicted in “blue” on the 2020 Travel Risk Map, representing medium impact.
Algeria has the same level of impact, along with Mauritania, Tunisia, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Tunisia.
Libya has a high indicator.
The countries with low impact levels include Mali, Senegal, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon, among others.
Road safety
In terms of road safety, Morocco has a mortality rate of 10-19.9 per 100,000 population, according to the 2020 Travel Risk Map. The category is the second-lowest risk level.
The ranking is based on data from the World Health Organization’s Global Status Report on Road Safety from 2018.
A report from the International Transport Forum shows that the number of reported traffic accidents declined by 7.9% in Morocco between 2016 and 2018.
The country, however, continues to record thousands of traffic accidents weekly.
The latest data from Morocco’s national police show that 22 people died and 1,869 people sustained injuries in 1,352 traffic accidents between August 31 and September 6.
Morocco’s reputation as a secure country
The 2020 Travel Risk Map shows Morocco has low risk in terms of travel security. The data takes into account the tangible threats posed to travelers by political violence, terrorism, and social unrest.
Morocco has long earned a “safe” label for travelers in terms of security in several reports.
In 2019, Morocco also ranked 28th out of 140 countries in terms of safety and security for tourists, according to the World Economic Forum.
The ranking showed Morocco ahead of several popular destinations for travelers, including, France, Germany, and the UK.
