Morocco Aims to Boost Tourism with $50 Billion Investment, Eyes Dubai Model for World Cup 2030

Morocco plans to invest $50 billion to develop its transportation infrastructure and tourism before 2030, the year it will co-host the FIFA World Cup with Spain and Portugal. In terms of tourism, Morocco is working to add 1.5 million new rooms to accommodate the 26 million tourists expected by that deadline. To achieve this goal, the kingdom plans to draw on Dubai’s expertise, according to the arabianbusiness website.

"Dubai is a shining example and has become a hub for startups, the digital economy and the technology industry. So we would like to see how we can build a computing ecosystem in Morocco," explains Anas Guennoun, vice-president of the CGEM and new head of the UAE-Morocco Business Council. And he continues: "We expect a large number of Emirati companies to operate in Morocco as the FIFA World Cup approaches. The goal is to attract companies that are experts in infrastructure and events."

Guennoun highlights the close cooperation between Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, recalling that this country is "the largest Arab investor in Morocco with more than $30 billion - a figure that should double following major agreements signed at the end of 2023." For his part, tourism policy expert Zoubir Bouhoute, contacted by Challenge, expresses reservations about the addition of 1.5 million rooms by 2030. "The accommodation capacity in Morocco to date is around 280 or 290,000 beds. So when we say 290,000 beds, that’s equivalent to 145,000 rooms. With 145,000 rooms, we are far from the one and a half million rooms we want to add," he details.

The expert will add: "In any case, Morocco plans to boost investments. Now the priority is air transport. Thanks to air transport, we are recording significant arrival volumes. If we reach 500,000 beds by 2030, that’s already good, because the most important thing is also the occupancy rate of the rooms. At the end of 2019, the room occupancy rate was 48%. And if we increase the activity, we increase the occupancy rates, we increase the volume of foreign visitors, particularly markets such as India, China, Brazil, North America, in addition to the traditional markets. We have beautiful prospects and many opportunities to seize..."