Morocco Welcomes Record 13 Million Tourists in 2019, Boosting Tourism Sector

With this record number of tourists, Morocco has exceeded the 12 million mark for the first time. The volume of overnight stays in classified establishments increased by 5% to reach 25.2 million overnight stays, and this for the majority of the country’s destinations, according to a press release from the Moroccan Tourism Observatory.

The cities of Marrakech and Agadir, which are the flagship destinations of the kingdom, generated 57% of the total overnight stays, the same source said. As for tourism revenues, they reached 78.6 billion dirhams (7.41 billion euros) compared to 73.04 billion dirhams (6.89 billion euros) a year earlier.

According to the Observatory, this progress is justified by a "positive trend driven by the main source markets of the Moroccan destination", foremost among which are France and Spain. Among the tourists, there is a significant number of Moroccans residing abroad (MREs). They represent on average half of the arrivals each year.

The strengthening of air links through the launch of new routes to Europe by low-cost airlines in recent years has also contributed to this progress.

Tourism is a key sector of the Moroccan economy in that it represents 10% of the kingdom’s wealth.