Criticized by the Court of Auditors and operators, the national tourism policy could well experience a second life, thanks to the jump in arrivals. Indeed, according to the Tourism Observatory, a total of 7 million tourists visited the kingdom during the first seven months of 2018, an increase of 7% compared to the same period a year earlier. The number of foreign tourists (TES) increased by 15%, while arrivals of Moroccans living abroad (MRE) decreased by 1%. This increase concerned the main emitting markets, in particular Italy (14%), Germany (9%), France (6%) and the United Kingdom (5%). Regarding total nights recorded in classified tourist accommodation establishments, they increased by 10% at the end of July 2018 (+13% for non-resident tourists and +2% for residents). The two tourist centers Marrakech and Agadir alone generated 60% of total overnight stays at the end of July, notes the observatory, which notes that these two cities experienced an increase of 12% and 10% respectively. Other destinations also showed good performances, in particular Fez, Rabat and Tangier with increases of 19%, 13% and 9% respectively. Furthermore, revenues generated by the tourist activity of non-residents in Morocco amounted to MAD 38.3 billion at the end of July compared to MAD 35 billion in 2017, an increase of 9.4%. During the month of July, the number of tourist arrivals at border crossings recorded a drop of 2% compared to the same month of 2017 (+4% for TES and -4% for MRE), adds the observatory. These figures therefore continue to place Morocco at the top of African tourist destinations. The country has exceeded the 10 million tourist mark for the fourth consecutive year, placing itself in first position in terms of arrivals, ahead of South Africa, Tunisia, Egypt and Zimbabwe. In terms of direct employment, Morocco ranks among the countries with the highest rate of direct employment in 2017, with more than 824,000 positions in the tourism industry.
Exceeding the milestone of 12 million arrivals
Operators are therefore counting on a much more successful 2018 than the previous one, and the nightmare of the 2008-2015 sequence, marked by a financial crisis in the issuing countries, seems to be behind them. But the latter continue to demand better support for intermediary structures. Indeed, in terms of supporting tourism SMEs, two support systems have been put in place as part of Vision 2020, namely “Moussanada Siyaha” and “Renovotel”, but whose results fell well short of expectations, regrets the Court of Auditors in its latest report. Moreover, out of the respective forecast envelopes of 420 and 500 MDH, only 1.91 MDH and 35.4 MDH have been committed. The Court also underlines that none of the governance bodies, which were planned for the implementation of the “Vision 2020” strategy, both at the national level (the National Tourism Council) and at the local level (the eight tourism development agencies), have seen the light of day. In total, the 15 CPRs signed provide for the realization of 944 tourism projects with a total amount of more than 151 billion dirhams. But only 37 projects were carried out at the end of 2015, for an amount of nearly 1.4 billion dirhams, i.e. a completion rate of less than 1%.
source: leseco.ma
