Business | Tourism
Foreign visitors to Morocco rise to record 7.4m in 2007
The number of foreign tourists visiting Morocco last year rose 13 per cent to a record 7.4 million, outpacing growth in the global market.
- Bloomberg
- Published: 00:20 February 13, 2008
Casablanca: The number of foreign tourists visiting Morocco last year rose 13 per cent to a record 7.4 million, outpacing growth in the global market.
The figures posted by the Ministry of Tourism on its website show that the industry, which accounts for as much as eight per cent of the kingdom's gross dom-estic product, generated a record Dh58.8 billion ($7.55 billion) of foreign currency earnings, partially offsetting an all-time high Dh137 billion trade deficit.
"The government's efforts to increase the capacity and liberalise air-travel have helped boost the number of tourists," Marc Thepot, chief executive officer of Risma, the nation's largest hotel company and a unit of France's Accor, said by phone.
Tourist visits outpaced the global trend as the number of international travellers increased 6.2 per cent to a record 900 million in 2007, according to figures released last month by the Madrid-based World Tourism Organisation, a UN agency.
French tourists visiting Morocco ranked first with 2.9 million, while Spain came second with 1.6 million. UK tourists increased the most, adding 29 per cent to 419,000.
Marrakech was the most popular destination ahead of Agadir and Casablanca. The total number of room nights stood at 16.9 million.
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