Tourist arrivals in Morocco up nearly 9 pct in September

11/11/2017 6:27

        A total of 8.85 million tourists visited Morocco between January and September 2017, up 8.9 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the statistics released by Tourism Ministry on Friday.
        International tourist arrivals jumped up 13.2 percent, while Moroccans living abroad visiting their homeland rose 5.2 percent, the ministry pointed out.
        Arrivals from the traditional European markets showed an increase of 13 percent in German tourists, and for emerging markets for Morocco, a 242-percent increase of Chinese tourists.
        Morocco's main tourist destinations, Marrakesh and Agadir attracted 60 percent of overall tourists visiting the North African kingdom, up by 18 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Fez and Tangier showed the highest increase in tourist arrivals with a growth of 35 and 25, respectively.
        By September 2017, tourism revenues reached nearly 5.4 billion U.S. dollars, a 4.6-percent increase year on year, the ministry said.
        A total of 10.3 million tourists visited Morocco in 2016, up 1.5 percent from 2015. Morocco expects tourist arrivals to grow 6 percent in 2017.