The attractiveness of the Moroccan destination increases the proportion of foreign tourists arriving in the Kingdom
New data revealed that foreigners accounted for 53 percent of the total number of tourists arriving in Morocco during the past January and February, while Moroccans residing abroad constituted 47 percent. This confirmed the development of the attractiveness of Morocco’s tourist destination since the beginning of 2024, and the effectiveness of the measures taken to promote tourism and improve air connectivity, by the tourism road map for 2023-2026.
The Ministry of Tourism, Handicrafts, Social and Solidarity Economy reported that 2.1 million tourists arrived during the first two months of the current year, an increase of 14 percent compared to the same period last year.
The same ministry explained that the efforts made to promote the Moroccan destination and improve air connectivity to it have demonstrated their success in achieving the goals of the strategic road map for the sector. It recorded an influx of 1.1 million tourists during February, an increase of 18 percent compared to February 2023.
Commenting on the new figures issued by the Ministry of Tourism, Mohamed Amin Al-Shabihi, an investor and expert in the tourism sector, stressed that the indicator of the percentage of foreigners among incoming tourists is of great importance, as it measures the level of attractiveness of the Moroccan tourist destination, and the effectiveness of the promotional interventions undertaken by the Moroccan National Tourism Office.
Al-Shabhi explained, in a statement to Hespress, that the number of foreign tourists arriving in the Kingdom at the beginning of 2024 directly indicates the volume of hard currency inflows provided by the tourism sector.
The expert in the sector linked the upward trend of tourism activity to the promotional effort of the Moroccan destination (Morocco, the Land of Lights) and the agreements concluded by the Moroccan National Tourism Office with airline companies and giant reservations sites, stressing in the same context the role played by professionals in tourism promotion through their daily efforts and presence. At international tourism exhibitions, as well as by receiving delegations from travel agencies and the international press within the framework of their work programs, and agreements signed with the Tourism Office.
The same speaker expected an increase in the volume of financial income to the sector, especially in hard currency, about the continued stability of inflation at relatively high levels, pointing out that this situation is widespread in the world in general, meaning that a smaller number of tourists will contribute greater income in hard currency. This means that there are additional horizons that must be exploited to enhance foreign exchange income, stressing the importance of increasing efforts in this direction, to ensure the recovery of larger shares from markets whose recovery shares are still weak since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic.
It is noteworthy that the tourism sector showed strong resistance to the repercussions of the Corona crisis, as 2023 was considered a record year for the sector, as the number of arrivals to the Kingdom’s border centers reached 14.5 million tourists. This equates to an increase of 34 percent and 12 percent, respectively, compared to 2022 and 2019. The tourism offer, which comes within the framework of the sectoral roadmap 2023-2026, aims to attract 17.5 million tourists and generate 120 billion dirhams in income in hard currency, in addition to creating 200,000 new direct and indirect job opportunities by 2026.
