Despite experiencing an earthquake in the first week of September, Morocco's tourism industry recorded exceptional performances during the month. This highlights the sector's resilience, which welcomed more than 11.1 million visitors to the country during the first nine months of the year. According to the Tourism Observatory, the sector witnessed a significant increase in foreign tourism revenues. The revenue generated from non-resident tourism in Morocco amounted to 80.1 billion dirhams by the end of September. This is a 25% increase compared to the 64.1 billion dirhams generated in 2022.
Strong influx of French and Spanish tourists
The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Morocco increased by 44% during the first nine months of the current year compared to last year. In September, one million tourists visited the country, marking a 7% increase over the same month in the previous year. All source markets drove this growth.
According to data from the Tourism Observatory, 1.5 million French tourists visited Morocco in the first nine months of the year, indicating a 46% rise. The number of Spanish tourists visiting the country also increased by 72%, with one million Spanish tourists compared to 584,000 tourists in the same period of the previous year. Travelers from the United Kingdom also increased by 57%, while arrivals from the German market showed an improvement of 85%. There was a significant increase in arrivals from the Italian market, which grew by 70%, and a 71% increase from the United States market.
Overnight stays are on the rise in all major destinations
Moroccan tourist accommodation professionals have reported a significant increase in overnight stays in the first nine months of this year. A total of 19.45 million overnight stays were recorded, a 46% increase compared to the previous year. This positive development was mainly due to the rise in the number of overnight stays by foreign tourists, which rose by 75%. Overnight stays by residents also increased by 11%. All major destinations experienced positive results during this period compared to the end of September 2022.
In Marrakech, overnight stays increased by 62% to 6.62 million, compared to 3.95 million in the same period last year. The number of overnight stays in Agadir also increased by 35% to 4.24 million by the end of September 2023. Rabat recorded a similar rate of increase, with 605,149 overnight stays in the first nine months of the year. In Casablanca, the observatory recorded 168,923 tourist overnight stays compared to 157,656 overnight stays a year earlier, an increase of 40%.
Four and five-star hotels are the most popular
The number of overnight stays in Tangier increased by 26% over the same period, while those in Fez saw an impressive rise of 46%. Among all accommodation categories, 4-star hotels were the most preferred by visitors, with 5.22 million overnight stays in the first nine months of the year. 5-star hotels were the second most popular, with a total of 4.84 million overnight stays, followed by club hotels (2.35 million), and three-star hotels (2.16 million). In addition, hotel residences received 1.43 million overnight stays, compared to 827,452 million at luxury hotels. The two-star level recorded 686,866 overnight stays, while guest houses received 895,124 overnight stays during the first nine months. The 1-star segment recorded 470,843 overnight stays compared to 353,518 in the same period in 2022.