Three years after the start of the pandemic which shook the foundations of global tourism, Morocco stands as an example of rebirth and resilience, thanks in particular to the continuation in 2023 of considerable efforts aimed at revitalizing the national tourism industry. During this year, the Kingdom, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, chose to transform challenges into opportunities, implementing a series of strategic measures aimed at supporting the recovery of its tourism sector. At the top of these initiatives is the deployment of the 2023-2026 strategic tourism roadmap which aims, by 2026, to attract 17.5 million tourists, reach 120 billion in foreign exchange earnings, create 80,000 direct and 120,000 indirect jobs, in addition to repositioning tourism as a key sector in the national economy. With a budget of 6.1 billion dirhams, this strategic roadmap intends to play a key role in guiding this wave of tourist enthusiasm by acting on all the essential levers, namely the adoption of a new approach to the offer centered on the customer experience. Added to this is obviously the Marhaba 2023 Welcome Operation launched last June, which has once again established itself as a powerful catalyst for tourist activity in Morocco. As part of this initiative, a total of 2.84 million passengers and 642,000 vehicles passed through Moroccan ports in both directions, an increase of 23% for passengers and 20% for vehicles compared to last year. At the same time, the Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT) continued its efforts to promote the Morocco destination through its strategy of conquering the main strategic source markets for the Kingdom. During 2023, the ONMT focused its efforts towards the strategic deployment of the “Terre de Lumière” brand, by establishing fruitful partnerships with influencers from various market segments in order to design original content, thus promoting proximity with end customers and building community loyalty on social networks. The Office has also strengthened its commercial action towards distribution players such as tour operators and online travel agents, which resulted in the security of approximately 4.48 million customers, marking in this sense a remarkable annual growth of 98%. Similarly, in the airline sector, the increase in capacity and connections with tourist destinations has propelled growth in contractual capacity, reaching an increase of 15% for a total of 8.3 million seats secured. In the wake of these notable initiatives, the Moroccan Society of Tourist Engineering (SMIT) has made significant investment efforts, managing to attract numerous foreign investors as well as renowned international hotel chains such as Westmont, Kasada and Barcelo. This dynamic push has led to the successful inauguration of 104 new hotel establishments in 2023, significantly expanding the range of accommodation options available to domestic and international visitors. Consequently, this achievement made it possible to amplify the Kingdom’s current accommodation capacity, bringing it to around 300,000 beds, thus strengthening the reception infrastructure and consolidating the country’s position as a leading tourist destination. Indeed, this significant expansion of the hotel offer also reflects the confidence of national and foreign investors in the potential and stability of the Moroccan tourism sector, which has reached new heights, posting at the end of November 2023 more than 13.25 million arrivals, according to the latest figures revealed by the ONMT. This remarkable growth, resulting in an increase of 36% compared to 2022 and 11% compared to 2019, resulted in nearly 23.7 million nights in classified establishments, representing a significant increase of 38% compared to 2022 and 11% compared to 2019. Regarding travel revenue, these reached 88.4 billion dirhams at the end of October 2023, marking a notable increase of 2% compared to 2019. This record performance confirms the strategic position of tourism as one of the main contributors to the Kingdom’s foreign exchange reserves. For its part, the air traffic sector has also undertaken a significant recovery, welcoming during the first eleven months of this year, some 24,737,734 passengers, i.e. growth rates of 7% compared to the same period of 2019, and 34% compared to 2022. These achievements can be explained by the resumption of numerous flights which had been suspended during the period of health crisis, as well as by the inauguration of several new air routes. In addition, the Kingdom benefited from exceptional global visibility during its brilliant participation in the 2022 World Cup. This global notoriety was stimulated in 2023 following the announcement of its co-organization of the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal, thus consolidating its international reputation. As a whole, the excellent performance of the tourism sector during the year 2023 was made possible thanks to various major elements, notably the exceptional resilience demonstrated by Morocco in the face of the Al Haouz earthquake, an unprecedented public/private collaboration, as well as proactive government action integrating support and recovery measures. With these solid foundations, Morocco is well positioned to maintain its positive trajectory and continue to attract visitors from around the world. With the 2023-2026 roadmap as a guide, the Kingdom is preparing to capitalize on this positive dynamic and create a promising future for its tourism industry.
source: lesiteinfo.com
