Tourist arrivals in Morocco up 5.2 pct in 2019

Nearly 13 million tourists visited Morocco in 2019, up 5.2 percent year on year, Moroccan Tourism Observatory said on Wednesday in a report.

Foreign tourists' arrivals increased by 5.4 percent, while those of Moroccan expatriates rose by 5 percent in the same period, the report added.

The growth was mainly driven by the continued rise in the number of tourists from the traditional European markets, as statistics show an increase of 9 percent in Italian tourists, 8 percent for British tourist arrivals, 6 percent for French and Spanish tourists respectively, and 4 percent for Dutch tourists.

Additionally, Morocco's major tourist destinations Marrakech and Agadir saw increases in tourist arrivals of 6 percent and 3 percent respectively last year.

Morocco's total tourism revenues amounted to 9.6 billion U.S dollars in 2019, an increase of 7.7 percent year on year, the report added.