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Morocco Tourism Report 2009Published by: Business Monitor International Published: Mar. 26, 2009 - 36 Pages Table of Contents
AbstractLatest StatisticsIn December 2008, the Maghreb Arab Presse reported that tourist arrivals for January-October 2008stood at 6.7mn, an increase of 6% year on year (y-o-y). Over the same period, international tourismreceipts dropped by 1.5%, to US$5.6bn. For the year as a whole, Tourism Minister Mohamed Boussaid believes that an annual increase of 7%, toaround 7.9mn arrivals, is the most likely outcome. BMI concurs with this assessment. We also believethat tourism revenues will effectively show zero growth in 2008, in line with government projections.The ongoing economic crisis has caused us to revise our forecasts for tourist arrivals in Morocco over2009 and 2010 downwards. This is because consumers from key source markets (such as France andSpain) will cut back on discretionary spending, such as vacations, during the period of economicuncertainty. That said, we remain bullish on the longer-term prospects for the Moroccan industry, whichbenefits from strong levels of state support. Govt takes action to support tourism sector In December 2008, the Moroccan government announced a new strategy ‘Cap 2009’ to help the domestictourism industry weather the current economic uncertainty. The plan aims to reduce the impact of theeconomic crisis by boosting tourism efforts in four regions: Marrakech, Fez, Casablanca and Agadir,according to local media. Mindful of the fact that international tourist arrivals may fall in the wake of theworsening global economic backdrop, Cap 2009 is looking to promote domestic tourism. Cap 2009 alsolooks to target foreign markets where demand might remain relatively buoyant, namely the Gulf regionand Russia, alongside traditional markets such as Europe. Morocco also wants to ensure that investment in the tourism sector does not dry up as a result of thecredit crunch. To this end, CAP 2009 has an allocation of MAD50mn in the 2009 budget, according tolocal reports. Vision 2010 And Plan Azur The cornerstone of Morocco’s tourism strategy for the balance of this decade remains ‘Vision 2010.’ Thisprogramme aims to attract 10mn tourists to the African nation by 2010. Other key aspects of theprogramme include the creation of some 160,000 new hotel beds, bringing the total national capacity to230,000 beds. The country also hopes to create 600,000 new tourism sector jobs. The key points ofVision 2010 are listed on page 10 of this report. A key component of Vision 2010 is ‘Plan Azur.’ Thisidentifies six key resorts to be developed along the country’s extensive coastline. A full description ofPlan Azur can be found on page 23 of this report. Get Full Details About This Report >> |
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