The French market to Morocco, which for years has been the leading European market to the Kingdom, is not always able to take off again. A difficult economic situation with unemployment continuing to rise
destructive of social cohesion, austerity policies leading to accentuate the malaise of the middle classes and a state of emergency declared for several months, are the main causes
The French market to Morocco, which for years has been the leading European market to the Kingdom, is not always able to take off again. A difficult economic situation with unemployment continuing to rise
destructuring of social cohesion, austerity policies leading to accentuate the malaise of the middle classes and a state of emergency decreed for several months, are the main causes.
In addition, since January 2015, France has suffered more than ten terrorist attacks, very often linked
fanatical acts damaging the image of Arab and Muslim countries. The result is a disaffection among French tourists for North Africa and Arab countries. Even if Morocco remains a safe country, it is a victim of the regional context due to the issue of terrorism, which has encouraged French tourists to change their destinations to neighboring European countries, notably Spain and Portugal. Spain recorded an increase of 17% in the Canaries and 14% on the Peninsula. France has 40 million travelers, 25% of whom are international.
The French market showed a decline of 14% during the first half of 2016 in Marrakech ahead. For two years, in Agadir, the French market has been overtaken by the Nationals who are now first on the podium for arrivals and overnight stays. For Agadir They went from 179,437 in 2014 to 145,372 French people in 2015, a loss of 34,065 tourists. This decline is confirmed during this year when only 83,182 French people stayed in Agadir, with the generation of 490,685 nights during the first 8 months of the year
The year 2015 confirmed the decline in tour-operating activity and the increased development of the dynamic package via the internet or travel agency. Morocco has clearly become an unpackaged product in France. As air connections are relatively good from a good part of France, there is something for everyone thanks to the Internet, explains Guy Raffour, one of the French specialists in i-tourism.
France, 66.13 million inhabitants in 2015, has 55.4 million Internet users. The Internet penetration rate is therefore greater than 83%. In January 2016, if we limit ourselves to Internet users aged 15 and over, that is 45.5 million Internet users went to the Internet from a computer, a mobile or a tablet (18.2 million of them connected on the 3 screens, or 43%), or nearly 9 French people out of 10. There are 32 million active users on social networks. Facebook continues to dominate the market with 31 million active users, followed by Youtube with 23 million unique visitors.
According to Google, a traveler’s purchasing journey lasts 55.8 days on average and the French Internet user consults an average of 8 websites before making a decision. The consumer would thus spend a little more than 2 hours on travel sites before purchasing. The purchasing journey has thus become relatively long and complex and multi-media for the same transaction (computer, tablet, mobile).
For Guy Raffour: the e-tourist now has access to information systems previously reserved for professionals only, while also having access to all the information on institutional sites, non-commercial associative sites and all collaborative web production. They thus benefit from a wider choice with the desired levels of intermediation.
During the 38th edition of the Top Résa Show in Paris, the decline in French tourism to Morocco was marked both by the absence, in the Morocco stand, of French partner TOs as well as by the large Moroccan operators who work with the French market. Even the Moroccan stand, managed by the ONMT, recorded a drop in its surface area of 80 m2, giving the impression of disappointment with the French market. An ordinary stand without any attraction or appeal, pushing stupidity to the point of ignoring the organization of COP 22 in Marrakech next November. AN unforgivable and irresponsible oversight both on the part of the Moroccan organizers of this international event and on the part of the ONMT, responsible for the tourist promotion of Moroccan products.
In short, a banal Moroccan participation which brought nothing positive. Some hotel managers, sales agents or representatives of Moroccan travel agencies were present, but did not obtain conclusive results like in previous years. It is worth knowing, as a tourist “consolation”, that the French product has also experienced a real decline because of the attacks. In eight months, France has lost a million customers or 5 million overnight stays. In Paris the drop is very significant and is around 30 to 35% in hotels, museums, commerce and taxis. There is no joy among French professionals like among their Moroccan colleagues.
All hope is leaning towards the first quarter of a recovery in 2017, with the strong hope that no attack will darken this already gloomy tourist picture even further. May God protect us from these atrocities
