The destination Morocco was prominently featured during the 2017 edition of the “Matka” International Travel Fair, the largest tourism industry event in Northern Europe and the Baltic region held from January 19 to 22 in Helsinki.
Designed to highlight the cultural and natural wealth of the Kingdom, the Moroccan stand aroused the interest and curiosity of a public eager to discover the new tourist products offered by the country.
Tour operators, tourism and transport professionals, specialized media and the general public, the Morocco destination manages to seduce in this part of Northern Europe, a market generating tourists with high added value.
A growing demand for travel has been observed not only to Agadir, the most popular seaside resort for Finns, but also to other Moroccan cities such as Marrakech, Fez, Meknes and Rabat, according to the delegation of the Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT) in Stockholm.
Geographical proximity, stability and product diversity make the Kingdom a destination capable of attracting the largest number of Finnish tourists across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
In general, Nordics consider traveling abroad to be a primary need, particularly due to the harsh climate in the region for much of the year. Nearly three-thirds of the population of countries in the region take at least one trip abroad each year, official statistics show.
The “Matka” International Tourism Fair was an opportunity for the ONMT to facilitate the establishment of contacts between tourism and transport professionals from the Nordic country and their Moroccan counterparts, the aim being to attract more visitors in the coming years.
According to the Office, the number of tourists from Nordic countries who visited Morocco in 2016 increased by 10% compared to the previous year. Around 98,000 tourists from the region stayed in the Kingdom last year, said the ONMT, estimating that this trend should continue in 2017 to reach more than 100,000 tourists, while only 50,000 visited the Kingdom in 2009.
More than 70,000 people were expected at the show, which is increasingly focusing on the international market. According to the organizers, around 1,000 exhibitors from more than 80 countries displayed their products and services during the four-day event. rrakech, Fez, Meknes and Rabat. Ph:DR
Source: Le Matin
