Marruecos prevé un aumento en el número de turistas de cara a 2023
At the beginning of the month, the African nation opened its air border, although both its sea border, scheduled to open at the end of the month, and its land border remain closed. The reopening of the airspace, according to a tourism official, will allow the entry of 13 million tourists throughout this year and next year, surpassing the figures achieved in 2019.
Morocco remains one of the most popular destinations in Africa for foreign tourists. In this way, it is positioned as a strong player within the tourism industry due to factors such as culture, history, sea coasts, etc., despite the fact that, two years ago, like all countries, the Moroccan tourism sector was strongly affected with a 71% drop in tourists, i.e. some 20 million travellers, representing a loss of many millions of euros.
The Alawi kingdom wants to win back the Spanish, French, English, etc. markets, with the aim of increasing the country's air network by introducing new regular routes for next winter. Adel El Fakir, director of the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT), is working on these measures. According to a study, tourists are now looking for experience-based travel based on exploring local communities, as well as cultural immersion, rather than traditional travel.
As a result, the ONMT has launched the international campaign "We are open" to promote Morocco, enhancing its appeal as an accessible, safe and exotic destination. The plan will be developed in three phases: the first phase began with the launch of a video capsule under the slogan "We are open". The aim is to capture the attention of travellers and initiate a recovery of the sector, focusing on five strategic markets: Germany, the United States, Spain, France and the United Kingdom. Finally, the last phase will culminate at the end of February, when a series of videos will be published, called "Visit Morocco Originals", which will promote Moroccan diversity, as well as its culture, nature, leisure, etc., according to the Moroccan National Tourist Office. In fact, the country has created another campaign, but at the national level, called "Aji", to boost domestic tourism.
It is estimated that the tourist offer of the airlines Transavia (40%), Ryanair (50%) and EasyJet (40%) will exceed the offer, which existed before the pandemic, by June next year, as well as the 50% increase in the number of seats, compared to those offered in 2019. "From next summer, the peak of arrivals will be reached, but the most important thing is that by the end of 2022 we will have an annual capacity equivalent to 1.5 times that of before the crisis," Media24 reported. A study by TechNavio also expects Moroccan hospitality to grow by 6.40 per cent annually, achieving a turnover of around €1.8 billion over the period 2021-2026.
International tourism accounts for almost 7% of Morocco's GDP, a sector that has been hard hit by the restrictive measures imposed by the Maghreb government. The country knows that part of its economy depends on tourism, which is why the Moroccan administration approved a rescue plan, valued at 200 million euros, based on direct aid for workers in the tourism sector, but all this cannot be effective unless all its borders are reopened. All these actions lead us to believe that the figures reached in 2019 will be surpassed in 2023.
