Morocco tourism grows slightly despite world economic downturn

The number of tourists visiting Morocco was up by one percent last year, at just over 9.34 million, despite the world economic downturn, tourism official Kamal Bensouda said Thursday.

Tourist income was also up, by four percent, at 59 billion dirhams (5.36 billion euros, $7.12 billion), he told MAP news agency.

The steady results came despite recession in Europe, a continent which accounts for 80 percent of Morocco's tourists, Bensouda said.

Most visitors are French, Spanish, or Moroccans living abroad, he added. Morocco was the only North African country which did not see a drop in tourism last year, when Arab Spring revolutions swept away the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

Agadir, one of the preferred destinations for tour operators, illustrates 2011's drop in tourist activity.
Last January, Agadir registered in its classified hotels a total of 48,367 arrivals and 266,633 overnight stays, a drop of 19.93 percent and 23.36 percent respectively compared to the same period in 2011.

Meanwhile, the new Moroccan Minister of Tourism Lahcen Haddad believes that 2011 was still a good year. Despite the local and regional events, Moroccan tourism has had good achievements, he said.

"The sector, which contributes about 9 percent of the GDP, achieved satisfactory results in 2011 despite a difficult world and declining travel demand due to the economic crisis which hit the main tourist source markets of Morocco,'' said the Moroccan minister, whose remarks were reported by the MAP news agency.

@Middle-east-online.com

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