Before the pandemic, the Alawi kingdom had become one of the most popular destinations for French and Spanish tourists, something that the arrival of COVID-19 brought to an end.
However, three years after the pandemic caused a sharp drop in tourism worldwide, Morocco has re-established itself as a favourite destination for its two best partners in Europe.
In 2021, Morocco received just shy of 1.2 million foreign tourists, with half a million coming from France, the leader in visits to the Kingdom in a very prominent way.
Further behind were Spain- close to 100,000 visitors, Belgium 65,000, the United Kingdom 56,000, and the United States- 66,000.
The numbers, still decimated by the consequences of the pandemic, have risen sharply in 2022.
The number of foreign tourists has grown to over five million, including 1.5 million from France. However, the country with the highest growth was Spain.
_1.jpg?itok=cAiK-EPr)
The rate of recovery of tourism from Spain is 102%, according to the latest report from the ICEX office in Rabat.
It is not only that Spain has increased tenfold the number of people who decide to visit Morocco compared to 2021, it is the only European country whose number of tourists has increased even compared to the data of the year before the pandemic.
In 2019, 880,000 Spaniards travelled to Morocco, while in 2022 the number exceeded 900,000.
Only France, with the aforementioned 1.5 million tourists, represents the highest rate of tourism in the Kingdom, with 14% of the total.
Spain, on the other hand, is in second place with 8%, followed by the United Kingdom with 480,000 tourists, which translates into 4%.
The most significant decline is that of Germany, which, with 2% and just 171,000 tourists, is a far cry from its figures of four years ago, when more than 400,000 Germans chose Morocco as a tourist destination.
However, Rabat does not want to stop its growth here.
What’s more, the forecast is that this year it will surpass the number of tourists who visited the Alawi kingdom in 2019.
The goal set by the country presided over by Aziz Akhanouch is to reach 17.5 million tourists and generate revenues of 11 billion euros in foreign currency.
This idea is boosted by Morocco’s image around the world, thanks in large part to its sporting success.
The Atlas Lions’ fourth-place finish at the World Cup in Qatar, together with its joint bid with Spain and Portugal for the 2030 World Cup, is boosting the Kingdom’s attractiveness.
Tags: COVID-19 pandemic, foreign tourists, Alawi kingdom, Morocco tourism, Popular Destinations
