Morocco’s Travel Industry Rebounds as Bookings Surge Post-Pandemic

"Our activity is starting to regain its colors in recent months. We started preparing for this summer season from last May," says Mohamed B., manager of a travel agency located in Casablanca, to the MAP. "Today, despite the rise in prices, we are seeing a strong enthusiasm both for domestic and foreign travel." According to him, destinations like Turkey and Egypt are the most popular for foreign travel. His agency organized four departures to Istanbul for a stay of more than a week, each including about thirty seats. "For this August, there is no more availability, as all the programmed seats have been sold. Also, customers are already booking for September," adds this professional.

As a result, Morocco has welcomed millions of foreign tourists. According to Fatim-Zahra Ammor, Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social and Solidarity Economy, 3.4 million foreign tourists visited the kingdom in the first six months of this year. The kingdom’s airports recorded a volume of 7,439,275 passengers, through 70,680 flights in the first half of 2022.

At the national level, the observation is the same. Domestic tourism is back. This is thanks to a series of measures taken by the Moroccan authorities. These include the launch in January of an emergency plan of 2 billion dirhams, the reopening of borders in February and the great return of Moroccans residing abroad (MREs) with the Marhaba operation. In total, more than 4.5 million travelers chose the train for their trips last July, a figure up 30% compared to the same period in 2021 and 20% compared to 2019.