AnsaMed
Morocco is losing tourist appeal, and after being the most-visited African country in 2015, data on arrivals and bookings show a marked decrease. April closed down with 1.4% fewer arrivals compared to 2014. In the first four months of 2016 just over two million people arrived, registering a 0.8% drop compared to the same period last year. In 2013 tourism was up 7% and in 2014 it was up 2%.
The country’s Tourism Observatory untangles data and looks for answers: the presence of Germans is down by 8%, Italians and French by 5% and English by 7%. The Netherlands is the only country with an increase, up 5%, a result that flatters tour operators but doesn’t make up for the losses. When considering airline ticket sales alone, the drop is by 9%.
Two destinations under scrutiny are Agadir and Marrakech, which registered 60% of the national total for overnight bookings, with the first down by 1% and the second stable compared to 2015.
Fes, the cultural capital of Morocco, lost 21% in hotel bookings, while Rabat and Ouarzazate were down by 7% and 8%, respectively. Only Tangier grew, by 10%.
As a result, the employment rate in the tourism sector is decreasing, shedding three percentage points in April to reach 37%.
Currency exchange offices registered 16,936 billion dirhams in the first four months of the year compared to 15,889 billion in the same period of 2015, representing a 6.6% increase, but the general situation shows that Morocco is experiencing the uncertain climate generated by terrorist attacks worldwide and in particular at tourist destinations in northern Africa.
(ANSAmed).
