Around twenty travel agents from the Shanghai Region in China and the tour operator « China International Travel Service » (CITS), recently visited Marrakech, at the initiative of the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT).
During their stay, they were able to discover the main monuments of Marrakech, including the legendary Jemaa el-Fna square, as well as the new terminal of Marrakech Menara airport and the Mellah.
This visit ended with a workshop which allowed Chinese travel agents to meet tourism operators in Marrakech.
The actions carried out by the ONMT in this market, in partnership with tourism professionals, are starting to produce very encouraging results, since the number of Chinese visitors to Morocco increased from 12,000 visitors in 2015 to 35,000 in 2016 (80 percent of whom chose Marrakech), the objective being to reach 100,000 visitors by 2018.
The abolition of the visa by HM King Mohammed VI on the one hand, and the arrival of new airlines providing connections between Morocco and the 6 major Chinese cities via the Doha and Abu Dhabi Hubs (Qatar Airaways, Etihad Airways), have contributed to this performance.
Marrakech is already positioned as the leading Moroccan destination for Chinese tourists. Moreover, the Morocco destination has just been awarded the « Best Potential Destination 2016 », through the prize which was given to the ONMT, on the occasion of the 6th edition of the « Global Times » Forum which took place on January 8 in Beijing.
Numerous promotional and communication actions targeting the Chinese market are planned throughout this year.
