Morocco’s Tourism Rebounds as Diaspora Visits Surge, Matching Pre-Pandemic Levels

After two years of crisis due to Covid-19, Moroccan tourism has picked up again in the last two months. Communicating the statistics, the Ministry of Tourism specified on August 24 that Morocco welcomed a total of 3.2 million tourists during the months of June and July 2022, with 65% in July with more than 2 million arrivals. "This is an exceptional performance that has allowed us to recover 100% of the arrivals in June and July 2019," it announced in a press release. The department of Fatim-Zahra Ammor owes this strong upturn largely to the arrival of MRE and domestic tourists.

Three-quarters of the July arrivals come from MRE, notes the daily L’Économiste. Restrictions imposed by countries like France on visas have prompted nationals to rush to local offers. However, Moroccan tourism is far from emerging from the crisis that has shaken it for two years. It was found that only the North and Agadir-Taghazout have benefited from this windfall. Cities like Rabat, Casablanca, Fez, Ourzazate, Errachidia have lacked attractiveness due in particular to the prices charged in restaurants, hotels, etc.

The same observation in Marrakech, where barely a dozen establishments have been full. The reason? "We have very poorly managed the recovery and prepared the post-Covid period. The supervisory authority and the ONMT have been content with institutional operations abroad, nothing more," notes an operator.