Since 2014, Morocco has not experienced such a summer rush of arrivals of foreign tourists, MREs and nationals. From north to south, hotel establishments are recording an unprecedented occupancy rate which should allow the sector to end the year with exceptional results.
Due to the concurrent Ramadan, the figures for tourist arrivals for the month of June which will be published shortly will not be significant in terms of growth but those for July are eagerly awaited to confirm the upward trend which started in January and which should make it possible to reach 11 million tourists for the year 2017.
Apart from the city of Al Hoceima, all the tourist regions of the Kingdom are in fact experiencing a peak in summer attendance which confirms an incredible recovery in tourist activity which has been at half mast since 2014.
Three years later, the disaffection of foreign and French source markets in particular seems to be a distant memory for hoteliers who recorded sharply increasing occupancy rates in July.
Joined by Médias24, Jean Alexandre Bouhlal, general manager of the Es Saadi group in Marrakech, affirms that since the end of Ramadan, his hotel and his palace have achieved respective occupancy rates of 75% and 35% compared to 40% and 15% during the three previous summers.
« Even if we have always maintained high prices to select our clientele, we are going to have a good summer and this will also be the case for the majority of hotels in the city. An executive from Club Med Palmeraie also told me that his establishment was a huge success this summer with an occupancy rate of 100% until the beginning of October », rejoices our interlocutor.
According to him, this upward trend can be explained by the recent proliferation of establishments having chosen to offer « All inclusive » formulas which attract family customers on a small budget.
« Apart from the MRE who are increasingly numerous in Marrakech, we are witnessing the return in force of foreigners who have understood that the risk of terrorism spares no one and that unlike Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt, Morocco remains a haven of peace. There is an undeniable windfall effect for the country in terms of attractiveness which is reinforced by its security stability », concludes our source who adds that the current dynamic has also tipped the ocher city into a summer destination.
Interviewed in turn, the general director of a large regional tourism center CRT, requesting anonymity, half-confirms the operator’s comments, specifying that the unprecedented growth in summer arrivals is the continuation of a dynamic that started at the beginning of 2017.
« We do not yet have the figures for July but there is no reason for the upward trend recorded since January to be broken during the high season. I do not think that the current growth is the result of competitors’ loss of market. What attracts new tourists is certainly the stability of Morocco but also the continuous increase in air capacity and the promotion implemented by the ONMT, the quality and the diversity of products…”, would like to correct our expert.
It is therefore the conjunction of these different factors which has enabled the recovery of the French market, the development of other old or new markets (German, English, Chinese, Polish, etc.) and that of local tourism.
« The positive dynamic is undeniably present because until recently, we were resilient and even on the defensive with a catastrophic international situation. Today, Morocco has asserted itself as one of the rare secure countries for its national and foreign tourists.
« It took time to return to normal but we should not declare victory because zero risk does not exist. In the end, it was our strengths that made the difference because Morocco’s image was affirmed internationally with a drop in amalgamations and an increase in arrivals but there is still much to do to exploit the formidable tourist potential of our country », concludes the director general of the CRT.
It remains to be hoped that the public authorities will accelerate infrastructure projects to open up the Al Hoceima region, devastated by the recent demonstrations, which conceals tourist landscapes worthy of the most beautiful seaside destinations in the world.
source: medias24.com
