The activity of the tourism sector shows promising prospects for this year, due in particular to the improvement of the epidemiological situation in Morocco, indicates the Directorate of Studies and Financial Forecasts (DEPF) under the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
“The outlook seems more favorable for the year 2022, following the improvement in the epidemiological situation in Morocco and the implementation of various programs and measures, including in particular those relating to the reopening of national borders and the emergency program granted by the government to support the sector in the amount of 2 billion dirhams,” said the DEPF in its March economic report.
And to add that the tourism sector closed 2021 with a positive evolution of its main indicators (nights and arrivals), despite the closure of national borders from the last month of this year. To this end, the DEPF recalls that the flow of arrivals to the Moroccan destination increased by 34% at the end of 2021, for a total of more than 3.7 million tourists.
This development resulted from the increase in arrivals of Moroccans living abroad (MRE) of 77.9%, compared to a drop in those of foreign tourists of 8.8%, after a decline of 76.7% and 80% respectively a year earlier.
Suffering for the second consecutive year from the effects of the pandemic crisis, the total number of these arrivals fell by 71.2% compared to their pre-crisis level (end of 2019), after -78.5% at the end of 2020. Concerning nights spent in classified accommodation establishments, these increased by 30.7% year-on-year, at the end of the first eleven months of 2021. Thus, their decline compared to their pre-crisis level eased to -63.5% at the end of November 2021, after -72.1% a year earlier.
Moreover, despite the sharp drop recorded in tourist receipts in January 2022 (-58.6%), due to the closure of national borders throughout this month, the evolution of activity in the sector looks more favorable for the year 2022, since the reopening of national borders on February 7.
Indeed, the number of passengers welcomed at national airports during the period from February 7 to 28 is around 660,045 passengers, 50% of whom are international travelers. The DEPF highlights that international passenger traffic by air recovered 72% of its level during the same period of 2019.
