The disaffection of foreign tourists was partly offset by the increase in arrivals of Moroccans living abroad, limiting the overall decline to 2.6%.
Morocco recorded a slight decline in tourism in the first half of 2016. According to the Moroccan Tourism Observatory, 4.2 million foreign tourists visited the destination, or 2.6% less than at the same time last year.
A decline attributed to a troubled international context, after the attacks which notably affected Tunisia and Egypt, even if the destination has not been affected by attacks since 2011 and has led an offensive security policy including the implementation of the « Hadar » system in all sensitive and tourist sites since 2014.
French tourists down 5%
If the foreign clientele falls by 5.6%, the arrivals of Moroccans living abroad, up by 1.7%, will have contributed to limiting tourist erosion in the destination.
Among foreign customers, tourists from the United Kingdom were most lacking (-8%), followed by Germans (-7%). Like Italian tourists, French attendance also stalled, recording -5%.
Unsurprisingly, Marrakech and Agadir together accounted for 59% of total nights over the first six months of 2016, with drops of 3% and 5%.
Source: lechotouristique.com
