A total of 12.3 million tourists visited Morocco last year, an increase of 8.3% compared to 2017 (+14% for foreign tourists and +2% for Moroccans living abroad), according to the Tourism Observatory.
The main source markets showed an increase in arrivals in 2018, in particular, Italy and Germany (+15% and +10% respectively), followed by France and Spain (+8% and +6% respectively), specifies the observatory in a note on tourism statistics in Morocco for December 2018.
The said note also reports an increase in total nights spent in classified tourist accommodation establishments of 8.4% over the past year (+12% for non-resident tourists and +1% for residents), notes the same source, noting that the two tourist centers Marrakech and Agadir alone generated 60% of total nights at the end of December 2018.
These two destinations, specifies the observatory, posted respective increases of 10% and 8%, while the other destinations posted good performances, in particular, Fez (+16%), Rabat (+10%) and Tangier (+9%).
Moreover, domestic consumption, which includes that of inbound tourism (non-resident tourists: foreigners and MRE visiting Morocco) and internal tourism (resident tourists staying in Morocco outside their usual environment), is estimated at 131.7 billion dirhams (MMDH), an increase of 6% compared to 2017, indicates the note.
It is made up of total foreign currency revenues generated by inbound tourism (estimated at 90.7 billion dirhams, including 73.15 billion dirhams from travel receipts) and revenues generated by internal tourism (41 billion dirhams).
For the month of December 2018 alone, the data communicated by the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) show that the number of tourist arrivals at border crossings increased by 6% compared to December 2017 (+8% for TES and +3% for MRE), indicates the observatory, specifying that the main source markets recorded positive results, in particular the United States (+15%), Italy and Germany (+9%), followed by France (+5%), Spain (+3%) and Holland (+3%).
At the same time, according to data from tourist accommodation professionals, the volume of nights in classified establishments showed an increase of 8% in December 2018 (+10% for non-resident tourists and +4% for residents), said the same source, adding that the destinations of Marrakech and Agadir showed increases of 15% and 6% in terms of nights, followed by Tangier (8%) and Fez (4%).
On the other hand, Rabat recorded a decline of 2%, while overnight stays in Casablanca stagnated.
source: infomediaire.net
