Morocco’s Tourism Sector Rebounds, Shatters Records in Post-Pandemic Surge

Deployment of the strategic tourism roadmap 2023-2026 which aims, by 2026, to attract 17.5 million tourists, reach 120 billion in foreign exchange earnings, create 80,000 direct jobs and 120,000 indirect jobs; repositioning tourism as a key sector in the national economy; the Marhaba 2023 reception operation launched last June, marked by the return to Morocco of 2.84 million passengers and 642,000 vehicles transiting, in both directions, through Moroccan ports, an increase of 23% for passengers and 20% for vehicles compared to last year; continuation of the efforts of the Moroccan National Tourist Office to promote the destination Morocco through its strategy of conquering the main strategic source markets for the kingdom and strengthening the commercial action of the Office towards the distribution players such as Tour Operators and Online Travel Agents, resulting in the securing of approximately 4.48 million customers, marking in this sense a remarkable annual growth of 98%... Thanks to the implementation of a series of strategic measures, Moroccan tourism has experienced a clear recovery this year.

Morocco must also attribute this clear recovery to the increase in air capacity and connections with tourist destinations; the deployment by the Moroccan Tourist Engineering Company (SMIT) of significant investment efforts, managing to attract many foreign investors, as well as renowned international hotel chains such as Westmont, Kasada and Barcelo; the successful inauguration of 104 new hotel establishments in 2023, and the current accommodation capacity of the kingdom brought to around 300,000 beds. The measures implemented have borne fruit: the number of arrivals stands at more than 13.25 million arrivals, at the end of November 2023, according to the latest figures unveiled by the ONMT, an increase of 36% compared to 2022 and 11% compared to 2019.

As for overnight stays, there are nearly 23.7 million in classified establishments, a significant increase of 38% compared to 2022 and 11% compared to 2019. As for travel receipts, they reached 88.4 billion dirhams at the end of October 2023, marking a 2% increase compared to 2019. The resumption of many flights suspended during the health crisis period, as well as the inauguration of several new air routes have contributed very strongly to the recovery of the tourism sector. Some 24,737,734 passengers were welcomed during the first eleven months of this year, growth rates of 7% compared to the same period in 2019, and 34% compared to 2022.

The exceptional global visibility that Morocco has benefited from during its participation in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, as well as the exceptional resilience shown by Morocco in the face of the Al Haouz earthquake, the unprecedented public/private collaboration, as well as the proactive government action integrating support and recovery measures have also enabled the kingdom to boost its tourism. And the promising prospects are announced for 2024.