Marked by several unrest, the year 2023 also broke impressive records in terms of tourist arrivals in Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia. Data collected in the first half of this year suggests new thresholds that are just as impressive as the previous ones. Long in the lead, Egypt is now surpassed by Morocco, unlike in previous years. During the first half of 2024, these positive trends were confirmed, suggesting new peaks to come. Notably, Morocco outperformed Egypt in terms of first-time visitor arrivals, highlighting the effectiveness of its tourist attraction policies and improved air infrastructure. This exceptional performance results in a significant increase of 14% in tourist arrivals, reaching 7.4 million visitors. The month of June alone saw a record 1.5 million visitors, marking an increase of 10% compared to the previous year and 38% compared to 2019, before the pandemic. These figures far exceed forecasts, with 909,000 additional visitors, equivalent to the expected surplus for the whole year. For Egypt, despite ongoing challenges, including regional tensions and the impact of the crisis in Ukraine on beach tourism, the country maintained relative stability with 7.069 million visitors in the first half of the year. Efforts to diversify source markets, targeting countries such as China, India and Saudi Arabia, have helped mitigate the negative effects, demonstrating the resilience of the Egyptian tourism sector. As for Tunisia, although revenues recorded an increase of 7.8% to reach 2.1 billion dinars during the first five months of 2024, they remain below the record of 6.7 billion dinars of the previous year. However, this growth indicates an encouraging recovery for Tunisian tourism, supported by continued efforts to promote and develop tourism infrastructure. Looking ahead to the second half of 2024, the bar is set very high, particularly with the approach of the high season months which traditionally mark a peak in tourist arrivals in the Maghreb region. Optimism is reinforced by a global post-Covid-19 tourism recovery and controlled inflation, favoring purchasing power and leisure spending.
