Since the beginning of 2010 Moroccan tourism is doing well. The number of incoming tourists should almost meet the target set by the Ministry of Tourism for this year thus bringing large sums of money into the country.
The Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Yassir Znagui, told the local newspaper The Econimist that since the beginning of 2010, foreign exchange earnings reached 900 million Euros, marking an increase of 16% compared to the same period last year. He also added that his country expects to welcome 9.4 million tourists during the current year, including Moroccans residing abroad, which would represent 94% of the targets set by his department.
The strategy of Moroccan Ministry of Tourism is changing slightly this year. The department is not trying to attract only tourists from traditional countries such as France and Spain, but is also going to concentrate on the countries of Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Despite the global crisis, the number of tourists who visited Morocco in 2009 reached some 8.34 million visitors, which was 6% more than in 2008. Morocco was the only country in the Mediterranean in 2009 to exceed the 6% growth in terms of arrivals, followed by Turkey (2%). These figures were achieved during the times when the global tourism was going through difficult period with declines of 4% on average.