Record year for Morocco tourism with 13 million visitors

A record 13 million tourists visited Morocco in 2019, up 5.2% from the previous year, official figures showed Wednesday.

The number includes Moroccans from the diaspora, who account for around half of visitors annually.

Tourism revenues hit 78.6 billion dirhams ($8.16 billion) in 2019, up from 73.04 billion dirhams ($7.58 billion) the year before, the Moroccan Tourism Observatory said.

It attributed the rise — for the first crossing the 12-million mark — to its primary markets, France and Spain.

The North African country has benefitted from increased air links, with low-cost carriers launching new routes to Europe.

The former imperial city of Marrakesh, with its Unesco-listed Old Town, and Agadir on the coast together accounted for 57% of the 25.2 million hotel stays last year, the Observatory said.

Tourism accounts for about 10% of GDP and is one of the country’s main sources of foreign currency, alongside exports and remittances from Moroccans working abroad.

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