National tourism is doing well. In total, more than 5.4 million tourists visited Morocco in the first half of 2019, an increase of 6.6% compared to the same period of the previous year, underlines the Tourism Observatory in its latest note on tourism statistics in Morocco, specifying that an increase of 6.2% for foreign tourists staying and 7.1% for Moroccans living abroad (MRE) were recorded.
At the end of June, foreign currency earnings from tourism reached an amount of 32.7 billion dirhams, an increase of 4.2% compared to the first half of 2018.
The main source markets having experienced the most notable development during this period are Italy (+12%), France (+9%), Spain (+8%), Germany (+8%), Holland (+7%), Belgium (+6%) and the United Kingdom (+6%), reports the same source.
The note also highlights that at the end of June 2019, total nights spent in classified tourist accommodation establishments recorded an increase of 5% compared to the same period of 2018 (+4.3% for non-resident tourists and +8.5% for residents), adding that the two tourist centers, Marrakech and Agadir, alone generated 58% of total nights in the first half of 2019. These two destinations, continues the same source, recorded positive results (+8% for Marrakech and +4% for Agadir), while Tangier and Fez showed respective increases of 11% and 4%.
The same study reveals that during the month of June, the volume of overnight stays in classified establishments increased by +25% (+16% for non-resident tourists and +51% for residents).
At the geographic level, the destinations of Agadir and Marrakech recorded an increase of 15 and 29% respectively in terms of overnight stays. Along the same lines, the cities of Tangier, Casablanca and Fez recorded significant growth of 41%, 30% and 21% respectively.
source: huffpostmaghreb.com
