Morocco Ranks Among Top 20 Travel Destinations for French Tourists Despite Pandemic Slump

According to this barometer, in January 2021, bookings in travel agencies, all destinations combined, fell by 86% compared to January 2020. They had fallen by 76% in December 2020 and 92% in November 2020 compared to the same months of the previous year.

As in December 2020, several long-haul sun destinations have shown "a beautiful but relative resistance", notes L’Écho touristique. For example, the Dominican Republic (-41%), the United Arab Emirates (-40%), the Maldives (-46%) and the West Indies. Guadeloupe is the only destination in the top 20 in growth (+9%). France, which remains at the top of the top 20 destinations, has shown a decline (-74%). Morocco, which occupies 12th place, has fallen by 93%.

The same source points out that all these long-haul destinations will mechanically record a brutal drop in February 2021, with the ban on travel to countries outside the European area and the DOM-TOM, except for compelling reasons, decreed by the French authorities.

"The year 2021 got off to an excellent start on the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique and all the DOM in general, unfortunately followed by a drop in sales as soon as the first travel restrictions were announced in mid-January. Recently, the few long-haul tourists have chosen Dubai, Mexico, the Dominican Republic or the Canaries for their vacation," comments a manager of the online travel agency Bourse-des-vols.

With the latest travel restrictions announced at the end of January, activity has fallen back to the level of the first lockdown last year, notes the travel agent, noting in the current uncertainty a strong summer attraction of the tourist clientele for the Mediterranean basin: Corsica, Greece, Malta, Morocco and Tunisia. According to Bourse-des-vols, "all indicators suggest that at the first health and administrative improvement, the short and medium-haul sun and leisure market could experience a prompt and powerful takeoff".