Marrakech, which has not experienced this kind of enthusiasm since 2010, is now returning to growth. The first three months of the year herald a very good recovery for the tourism sector. At the end of February and according to statistics from the Tourism Observatory, Marrakech recorded an increase of 16% in arrivals and 17% for overnight stays.
And the upward trend should continue until the end of May, according to the Marrakech tourism delegation. Some establishments in the city are already fully booked for the period. Indeed, the Easter holidays which coincide this year with school holidays of some Moroccan academies, the May 1st bridge and a large number of events organized in the ocher city such as Caftan, the book fair… create a big demand from hotel establishments.
National tourists are largely responsible for this dynamism and this confirms the success of Marrakech with the domestic market. The latter today represents 40% of the volume of activity, delighting hoteliers but also the leisure industry. In addition to nationals, we are also seeing a recovery in European source markets with the exception of the United Kingdom which is stagnating.
In the lead, Spain with an increase of 32% followed by France (+11%). As a reminder, and like several other destinations in the Arab world, Marrakech had experienced large declines in these two markets over the last two years, affected by a perception crisis. For its part, the American market recorded an increase of 26%, achieving some 6,000 overnight stays.
Finally, the German market continues to grow with 4%. In total, the city received during the first two months of the year more than 300,000 tourists who spent nearly a million nights while the occupancy rate increased from 37% in 2016 to 43%. Behind this improvement, the COP22 effect which allowed great promotion for Marrakech and which above all proved to the whole world that the destination is very secure.
Without forgetting these stars who visit Marrakech and who are creating a buzz. Photos of the former French presidential couple Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni passing through Jemaa el Fna square have ignited the French media. That of the footballer Cristiano Ronaldo on vacation in the ocher city or even of the actress Amanda Cerny and which are running continuously on social networks, also help sell the “dream of Marrakech”.
From our correspondent
source: leconomiste
