Agadir: The hotel industry between moving upmarket and new capacities

While Agadir and Taghazout Bay currently have the demand, the challenge is now to evolve the hotel infrastructure at the same pace. Tourism: Quality improvement, renovation, new standards, energy efficiency, and digitalisation: the regional hotel industry is facing several projects. Gathered in Agadir, professionals and institutional stakeholders have set out the challenges of a transformation that has become necessary. Especially since the destination is showing sustained footfall and is beginning to hit the limits of its accommodation capacity. The Souss-Massa hotel industry is preparing for its next stage. This is the whole point of the forum organised last week by the Regional Association of the Hotel Industry of Agadir-Souss Massa (ARIH-ASM) and the Regional Tourism Council (CRT), in partnership with InterWorld. Around the table: hoteliers, institutional stakeholders, experts, and solution providers came to compare their experiences and, above all, identify the levers capable of improving the competitiveness of establishments. The timing is not insignificant. Tourism activity is doing well in Agadir and Taghazout Bay, but customer expectations are evolving just as quickly. Added to this are new requirements in terms of quality, energy consumption, and digitalisation. These are all transformations that force establishments to review their standards, but also their operating methods. The new classification standards occupied a good part of the discussions. Beyond the regulatory obligation, professionals see it as a way to evolve the offer and bring it closer to international standards. Investing in performance But the rise in quality is not limited to classification. Energy efficiency, cost control, renovation of spaces, decoration, modernisation of equipment, digitalisation of operations, or even artificial intelligence: the forum covered a wide range of solutions. The equation is both commercial and economic. It is about improving the customer experience while controlling operating costs and the environmental footprint of the establishments. This reflection makes perfect sense in view of the current performance of the destination. In August, arrivals increased by 2.4% year-on-year and overnight stays by 2.64%. The average occupancy rate of classified hotels reached 80.34%. Over the first eight months of 2026, arrivals show an increase of 4.59% and overnight stays of 6.71%. The occupancy rate reached 68.67%, compared to 65.93% a year earlier. The 5-star segment shows even more sustained momentum: +23.93% in arrivals and +26.82% in overnight stays over eight months. An evolution that confirms the progressive repositioning of the destination towards the high-end, particularly visible in Taghazout Bay. A capacity that is reaching its limits The clientele is also diversifying. Poland has grown by 43.3% since the beginning of the year, the Netherlands by 53.27%, Canada by 23.4%, and Portugal by 14.33%. The United Kingdom remains the leading foreign market with 246,431 arrivals, while the national market remains a pillar of the summer season. France, on the other hand, fell by 3.77% over eight months. These performances bring out another issue: that of capacity. For professionals, Agadir is reaching saturation. With 31,827 beds and occupancy rates approaching 80% in high season, the possibilities of absorbing additional demand are shrinking. The question is all the more strategic as Agadir’s air connectivity continues to strengthen. It is still necessary for the accommodation offer to be able to follow this rise in power. Two projects are then emerging. The first concerns the creation of a new hotel offer. The second, just as important, concerns the some 4,500 dilapidated beds that the destination still has and which require renovation, conversion, or upgrading. For Abdelhak Chahili, president of the ARIH-ASM, the transformation of the sector requires collective mobilisation. "Our responsibility is to support establishments in their rise in quality, to facilitate their adaptation to new standards, and to encourage investments that sustainably improve their performance," he emphasises. The forum will thus have made it possible to put the subjects on the table at a pivotal moment for the destination. Because if Agadir and Taghazout Bay have the demand today, the challenge is now to evolve the hotel tool at the same pace. Between new investments, renovation of the existing, and rise in quality, a new phase of development is taking shape for the regional hotel industry. Receive the latest news from Aujourd’hui Le Maroc directly on WhatsApp