Morocco’s Tourism Boom: Expats Outspend Domestic Visitors as Revenue Hits Record High

In detail, domestic tourists spent less than Moroccans living abroad (MRE) who visited the kingdom in 2024, whose spending reached 29.4 billion dirhams, representing a considerable increase of 22.9% compared to 2023. In terms of overnight stays, a decrease to 30% of the market share for domestic tourism is noted, from 8.6 million in 2023 to 8.5 million in 2024, compared to 33.5% in 2023 and 31% in 2019. On the other hand, overnight stays by foreign visitors increased by 16.1% of tourist nights, thus contributing to significant revenues for the sector.

Some 17.4 million international tourists visited Morocco in 2024, an increase of 20% compared to 2023, recalled tourism expert Zoubir Bouhoute in a statement to the Al3omk website, stressing that the notable increase in spending by MRE at 22.9% in 2024 is three times the growth rate of tourism revenues.

Addressing parliament on January 27, the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, expressed his satisfaction with the performance of the tourism sector, while stressing the importance of investing in human resources. "25,000 new jobs were created in 2023 and more than 8 billion dirhams were allocated in 2024 to modernize infrastructure and improve the quality of tourism services," he said.

Bouhoute also recalled that domestic tourism overnight stays experienced a record increase of 274.4%, from 2.27 million in 2000 to 8.5 million in 2024. The expert also stated that more than 80% of visitors come from Europe, particularly France, Spain and the United Kingdom, urging the authorities to explore new high-potential markets such as China, India, Brazil and South Korea, and to strengthen Morocco’s presence in the United States, Canada and Japan.