In its report published in February 2022, based on studies from 2019, the Directorate of Studies and Financial Forecasts (DEPF) of the Ministry of Finance, travel expenses increased with a rate equal to 8.3%, over the period 2010-2019, to exceed 20.9 billion dirhams (MMDH), causing an increase revenues of +3.8%.

The rate of travel among Moroccans qualifies as supernumerary, in a context of resumption of tourism.

In a Policy brief entitled “Potentieldutourismeinterneantqueleverderlaunchepostcovid-19”, the DEPF estimates that personal travel expenses have increased by +2.3% for professional purposes.

The author of the document and Head of the Tertiary Activities and Economy Department Ilyes Boumahdi, explains that the ratio of internal travel by Moroccans remains very modest with a rate of (0.7), thus the share of internal tourism in the total is 64% compared to an average of 85% in other countries such as Finland and the United States. This rate encourages the further development of strategies intended to promote internal tourism in the country.

However, in Morocco, the expenses that a citizen presents as a tourist do not exceed 138 dollars, with this participation Morocco has a total which equals 32% in the expenses of national tourists.

As for Moroccans Residing Abroad (MRE), they participate in tourism revenue with a good percentage, in fact only their accommodation in classified hotel and tourist establishments exceeded +8.4% in the period 2010-2019, on the other hand inbound tourism recorded +2.3%, or a figure of 7.8 million nights, thus representing an average of 2.2 nights per tourist compared to 3.1 for non-residents, reports the Policy brief.

What are the brightest national destinations for tourists in Morocco?

The distribution of tourists in the kingdom is channeled into 3 main areas, namely the regions of Marrakech-Safi, Souss-Massa, which attract the majority of external visitors, and Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima, which on the other hand has remarkable attractiveness among national residents. With a strong participation in internal international tourism, the region of Béni Mellal – Khénifra attracts national residents, with a rate of 72% in overnight stays.

Also read: Tourism: the recovery is promising but the challenges remain

The consumption of internal and outbound tourism recorded 45 billion dirhams in 2019 (reference year), knowing that the rate increased from 5.9 points in 2010 to 32.6% in 2019. This is therefore an increase which exceeds +7.3%, thus explaining an increase compared to inbound tourism.

But what is the preferred international destination for Moroccans?

Some Moroccans prefer to spend their vacations abroad, except that the rate of these tourists has seen a drop of 0.9% since 2010, the rate reached 2 million tourists in 2019, “or 5.5% of the total population” recalls the report.

Moroccans traveling abroad for tourist reasons prefer certain destinations over others. Indeed, statistics show that Spain attracts the most Moroccan tourists with a percentage of 39%, followed by France with a rate of 38%.  However, religious tourism, and mainly Umrah travel, recorded 9%, the same rate has seen growth of +9.6% since 2010.

Without a visa process, Turkish monuments fascinate Moroccan tourists, however the Turkish destination has recorded a very significant evolution in its rate of reception of Moroccan tourists, which exceeded +16.9%, or a percentage of 12% of Moroccan departures abroad in 2019.

source: maroc-diplomatique.net