Four million tourists visited Morocco during the first four months of 2023, an increase of 13% compared to 2019, indicated, Monday in Rabat, Fatim-Zahra Ammor, Minister of Tourism, Crafts and the Social and Solidarity Economy.
In response to a question on the tourist offer in Morocco, during the weekly session of oral questions in the Chamber of representatives, F. Ammor specified that tourist revenues at the end of March 2023 reached 25 billion DH, up 51% compared to 2019. And to note that 70% of tourists come from the European market. Regarding the most popular destinations, 60% of tourists show a preference for the cities of Marrakech and Agadir. The minister indicated that thanks to the 2 billion DH emergency plan, Morocco managed, for the first time, to reach 93 billion DH in tourism revenue in 2022, an increase of 16% compared to 2019, adding that nights in classified tourist accommodation establishments (EHTC) amounted to 19 million, an increase of 192% compared to 2021. According to her, domestic tourism reached a proportion of 42% of these overnight stays, compared to 31% during the period before the covid-19 crisis. At the same time, F. Ammor recalled the 2023-2026 roadmap which has a budget envelope of 6.1 billion DH to attract 17.5 million tourists, generate 120 billion DH in foreign exchange earnings, create 200,000 new direct and indirect jobs, and reposition tourism as a basic sector of the national economy. In this sense, she noted that to achieve these objectives, this roadmap aims to transform the sector through the adoption of a new vision of the tourism offer focused on the customer experience via 9 thematic sectors and 5 transversal sectors, in addition to the development of a plan to double air transport capacity and strengthen sales and marketing, with particular attention paid to digitalization. It is also a question of diversifying cultural entertainment and entertainment products, while promoting the emergence of active and modern small and medium-sized businesses, as well as rehabilitating hotels, creating new accommodation capacities, and developing human capital, through an attractive training and human resources management framework, in order to improve the quality of the sector and offer better employment prospects to young people. Thus, with a view to ensuring the success and realization of this road map, new governance was adopted through the creation of a national interministerial tourism commission under the presidency of the Head of Government, composed of the signatory parties to the framework agreement, as well as the creation of two national commissions, the first in charge of air transport, and the second of the tourist product, and 12 commissions for monitoring regional plans, under the presidency of the Walis of the regions, noted the minister, recalling that his department had already started the deployment of regional meetings in Marrakech, Casablanca and Agadir.
source: perspectivesmed.com
