More than 992,000 tourists arrived in Morocco in January 2024, a significant 10% rise from the same period in 2023, Morocco’s Ministry of Tourism, Crafts, and Social and Solidarity Economy announced in a statement.
The positive numbers include Moroccans residing abroad (a 9.5% increase over last year at the same time) as well as foreign tourists (up 11%).
The massive increase reflects the sector’s “endurance and dynamism,” according to the ministry. “After a record-breaking year in 2023 with 14.5 million tourist arrivals and tourist receipts totaling 105 billion MAD, tourism is continuing its ascent in the early months of 2024,” it said.
Careful planning over the previous two years are said to have helped account for the sector’s resilience.
Emerging from the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, including a two-year shut down that adversely affected tourism, handicrafts, as well as the social and solidarity economy, the ministry said its priorities were clear: resist, revive, and reinvent.
Morocco implemented a number of initiatives such as an emergency plan, a tourism recovery plan, a National Crafts Registry, mandatory health insurance, and programs to help artisans compete in the handicrafts sector. It also pursued a strategy to spur socio-economic development, with seemingly positive results.
The ministry is now concentrating its efforts on three main areas for each sector: accelerating growth, supporting job creation, and bolstering the competitiveness of industry players.