Morocco’s Tourism Hit: 28,000 Chinese Visitors Expected to Cancel in February Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

The Kingdom was visited by 150,000 Chinese tourists in 2019, according to figures from the National Confederation of Tourism. This feat, achieved a year earlier, is unlikely to be repeated in 2020, given the difficulties encountered by the sector since the outbreak of the Coronavirus epidemic.

The CNT foresees difficulties during the first three months of the year (January, February and March) for the Kingdom in the tourism sector. The most affected cities are Ouarzazate and Chefchaouen, as they welcome the largest number of Chinese tourists, according to the same source.

"In 2019, we recorded around 150,000 Chinese tourists. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus until now, we have seen a halt in flows. We will lose this clientele for the next two or three months. We simply have to hope that there will be a cure for this virus in the next two or three months," said Abdellatif Kabbaj, president of the CNT, during a press conference. According to the official, the hotel industry will lose 28,000 Chinese customers throughout the month of February, around 24,000 for the month of March, and so on.

To attract more Chinese tourists, Morocco has been making remarkable efforts for a few years through the signing of agreements with tour operators, the creation of a direct air link, recently launched to Beijing, by RAM.