Tourism

Despite grappling with the challenges of political instability in North Africa and the impact of the eurozone crisis in Europe, Morocco continues to pursue the objective identified in its national tourism development plan, Vision 2020, of becoming a top-20 tourism destination by 2020. The sector already contributes 12% of GDP, supports around 505,000 direct jobs and is an important foreign exchange earner, generating up to €6.2bn in 2014. Alongside efforts to expand Morocco’s air links and attract more visitors from abroad, however, the government has also targeted increases in the number of domestic tourists through marketing campaigns and building hospitality infrastructure that caters to the needs of local holidaymakers.

This chapter contains interviews with Imad Barrakad, President, Société Marocaine d’Ingénierie Touristique; and Abdelatif Kabbaj, President, National Confederation of Tourism.