The tourist activity closed the year with a total arrivals at border posts of around 13 million tourists, which corresponds to an evolution of 5.2% in 2019 compared to 2018 (+5.4% for foreign tourists and +5% for Moroccans living abroad).
The market managed to maintain its growth rate in 2019 thanks to a positive development driven by the main source markets of the Morocco destination, namely Italy (+9%), the United Kingdom (+8%), France (+6%), Spain (+6%), Germany (+5%) and Holland (+4%), according to the Tourism Observatory.
Alongside the increase in arrivals at border posts, overnight stays in classified accommodation establishments increased by 5% (+3% for non-resident tourists and +9% for residents) to reach 25.2 million overnight stays.
This increase affected the majority of tourist destinations in the Kingdom.
The two tourist centers Marrakech and Agadir alone generated 57% of total overnight stays in 2019 (+6% for Marrakech and +3% for Agadir), while other destinations such as Tangier, Casablanca, Rabat and Fez also showed positive results (+8%, +5%, +1% and +2% respectively).
The increase in attendance at classified accommodation establishments had a positive impact on the annual occupancy rates of the different destinations, namely 83% in El Haouz, 64% in Marrakech, 57% in Agadir and 55% in Tangier and Rabat, according to the Observatory.
Travel receipts in foreign currencies also experienced a positive development in 2019, since the tourist activity of non-residents in Morocco generated 78.6 billion dirhams in revenue compared to 73.04 billion DH in 2018, an increase of +7.7%.
For the month of December 2019 alone, the number of tourist arrivals at border posts increased by 4% compared to the same period a year earlier in 2018 (+1% for foreign tourists and +10% for Moroccans residing in abroad).
The main source markets recorded mixed results: France and Spain recorded increases of +4% and +8% respectively, while Germany, Belgium and Holland recorded declines of 2%, 2% and 4% respectively.
Other markets showed positive results: the United States (+12%), the United Kingdom (+11%) and Italy (+11%).
At the same time, according to data communicated by tourist accommodation professionals, the volume of nights in classified establishments saw an increase of +3% in December 2019, compared to that of 2018 (+2% for non-resident tourists and +4% for residents).
