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Morocco Tourism Report 2012
Business Monitor International, Nov 2011, Pages: 39
Business Monitor International's Morocco Tourism Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, tourism associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Morocco's tourism industry.
Tourist Arrivals Still Rising
In 2010, just under 9.3mn tourists visited Morocco, an increase of 11% year on year (y-o-y), according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism. This result was slightly stronger than BMI had anticipated and underlines the continued attractiveness of Morocco as a tourism destination. However, the figure was slightly below the ambitious target of 10mn tourists set by the government as part of its Vision 2010 tourism strategy, as BMI had long expected.
According to the most recent data available from the Ministry of Tourism, for H111, a total of 4,202,241 tourists visited Morocco in the first six months of 2011, an increase of 6.3% y-o-y. This increase occurred even against a backdrop of unrest across the Middle East and North African, marked by regime change in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, and with Morocco also experiencing a short-lived outbreak of violence in February 2011. Tourists were also seemingly not been deterred by the suicide bomb attack on a popular tourist café in Marrakech in April 2011 that killed 16 people.
Given the strong H111 figures, BMI's base-case scenario is for another positive year for inbound tourism in 2011, with an increase of 8% in arrivals likely, although BMI stresses that this is dependent on the November 25 2011 elections passing relatively peacefully. Tourist arrivals should surpass the 10mn mark for 2011 as a whole.
Supporting Moroccan tourism in the years ahead are the national Vision 2020 strategy (see below) and the ongoing Plan Azur resort development programme. By the end of BMI's newly extended forecast period in 2016, BMI believes Morocco will be welcoming over 14mn tourists and earning about US$8.8bn in annual tourism revenue. However, another attack in Marrakech or an increase in domestic political unrest could act as a downside risk to these figures.
Vision 2020 Unveiled
At the end of November 2010, Morocco unveiled its long-awaited Vision 2020 tourism strategy for the next decade. The strategy prioritises regional tourism, quality tourism and sustainable tourism development. The main goal of Vision 2020 is to double the size of the tourism sector and put Morocco among the top 20 global destinations for tourists. It also intends to triple the number of domestic holidays taken by Moroccan citizens.
To help meet these ambitious targets, Morocco plans to emphasise its cultural sites, the diversity of its tourism offering, the quality of its hospitality industry and staff, and to prioritise sustainable tourism. The country also hopes to add 200,000 beds to its national supply over the coming decade and to attract about 1mn tourists from emerging markets around the world.
At the heart of Vision 2020 is the ongoing construction work on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, the Plan Azur developments, which should add several thousand beds to the national supply when they are all completed mid-way through the decade.
BMI welcomes the continued priority given to tourism by the Moroccan authorities and believes Vision 2020 should prove successful in attracting more tourists to the country.
A Country With Long-Term Tourism Potential
Foreign investment continues to flood into Morocco’s tourism sector. Many international hotel chains continue to build new resorts across the country and the development of the Mediterranean coast should prove a particular draw to investors wishing to gain exposure to the tourism and property sectors. Foreign airlines are adding new routes to the country and the strong priority given to tourism by the government is another supportive factor.
Some golf and beach properties under construction in Morocco rival those in nearby Spain but cost much less to purchase. Morocco’s proximity to Europe – with flight times from the UK to the Mediterranean coast of about three hours on low-cost carriers – and its reputation as a fairly progressive and democratic Islamic nation are pluses for investors considering Moroccan tourism.
Taking into account the country’s high level of literacy and the government’s commitment to improving training standards across the hospitality industry, BMI believes all the ingredients are there for Morocco’s tourism industry to continue to make great strides in the years to come.
Royal Air Maroc Looking To Cut Costs Despite the upbeat outlook for the wider tourism sector, Moroccan flag carrier Royal Air Maroc remains in fairly dire financial straits at the time of writing, with media reports indicating that the airline is losing about MAD80mn per month because of high staff and fuel costs and the political uncertainty across North Africa.
The airline is carrying out a rationalisation programme to cut costs and boost profitability. In August 2011, union workers approved a wide package of measures, which included refocusing the company’s operations at its Casablanca hub, the sale of 10 aircraft and reducing staff by about 1,560 people between 2011 and 2013. In early September 2011, the airline said 535 people had already applied for voluntary redundancy.
More information on Royal Air Maroc and the hotel company Accor Morocco can be found in the Company Profiles section of this report.
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