By Ahmed Eljechtimi
RABAT (Reuters) – Morocco received a record 15.9 million tourists in the first 11 months of this year, surpassing the total in the entire previous year, the tourism ministry said on Monday.
Tourism accounts for about 7% of the North African country’s gross domestic product and is a key source of jobs and foreign currency.
Arrivals up to November were up 20% compared to the same period last year and 10% higher than the whole of 2023, the ministry said in a statement.
“These remarkable figures prove the impact of our roadmap and represent a major step towards our goal of positioning Morocco among the top 15 global tourist destinations,” the statement quoted tourism minister Fatim-Zahra Ammor as saying.
Morocco has opened additional air routes to key tourist markets, while promoting new destinations within the country and encouraging the industry to renovate hotels.
From January to October, tourism revenue was up 9.3% to 97 billion dirhams ($9.72 bln), official figures showed.
Morocco aims to reach 17.5 million visitors by 2026 and 26 million by 2030, when it will co-host the soccer World Cup with Spain and Portugal.
(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Toby Chopra)
