Morocco wants to attract a million British tourists

The director general of the Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT), Abderrafie Zouiten, has pledged to double the number of British tourists to Morocco to reach the one million mark. tourists from England by 2016, writes the British online weekly « Travelweekly » in its latest issue.The objective stated by Morocco can be achieved, thanks to the strengthening of air links between Morocco and the United Kingdom, said the British publication, citing the words of Mr. Zouiten. During a meeting held with the press on the sidelines of Morocco’s participation in the 34th edition of « World Travel Market » (WTM), which is held in London from November 4 to 7, the director general of the ONMT announced that the number of frequencies departing from Great Britain to Morocco should increase from 58 to 72 weekly flights for the 2013-2014 winter season.

According to Travelweekly, this increase in air supply, which represents an increase of 60 pc compared to the same period last year, is due to the strong comeback of air carriers such as EasyJet which will have to launch a new service between Bristol and Marrakech, while British Airways intends to increase its frequencies in Marrakech from 7 to 10 flights per week.

And to add that RAM is also returning to this destination with the scheduling of 4 weekly flights from Great Britain to Marrakech and Casablanca, in addition to the Ryanair flight linking the United Kingdom to the capital of Morocco.

For its part, the British tour operator Monarch Travel Group plans to launch airlines linking the city of Agadir to London and Manchester in 2014, said the British weekly.

“The British market is a growing market. We are going to reach the number of 500,000 British tourists this year, but our objective is to increase this figure to one million British tourists within three years,” Mr. Zouiten told the electronic magazine, affirming that the ONMT plans to launch in Great Britain a communication campaign for the promotion of the Morocco destination and golf tourism.

The British magazine specializing in tourism also echoed the words of the regional director of the ONMT in London Amine Boughaleb according to which the Office is working to arouse the interest of British tourists to go to cities other than Marrakech and Agadir, by working for the establishment of new air services to for example the city of Ouarzazate which has great potential in terms of trekking, rafting and sport tourism adventure.

“Our goal is to position ourselves in the golf tourism market and establish a place among the top 5 destinations for British tourists and golfers,” he told the British magazine.

He continued that the number of golf courses in Morocco should increase from 35 currently to around fifty within two years, specifying that the entry into service of the TGV between Tangier and Casablanca should also facilitate the flow and movement of British tourists to Morocco.

lopinion.ma