Marrakech welcomed, during the first quarter of 2015, some 426,982 tourists who generated 1,238,467 overnight stays. The Germans are in the lead, an increase of 106% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Tourism professionals in Marrakech have finally found their smile again after three difficult months marked by a serious drop in the arrivals of French tourists, the first market of the ochre city. The disaffection of travellers from France during this period was consecutive to an unfavourable regional context.
However, the concern that these professionals had expressed at the beginning of the season has recently faded and given way to optimism and a resurgence of activity.
According to the Regional Tourism Council (CRT), tourism activity has gradually resumed to reach, at the end of March, its cruising speed as evidenced by the occupancy rate which fluctuated between 50 and 93% in about sixty classified hotel establishments in the city. Indeed, it emerges from the figures made public by the CRT, at the end of a meeting held at the end of April, in the presence of the Wali of the Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz region, Abdessalem Bikrate, that the city welcomed some 426,982 tourists who generated 1,238,467 overnight stays during the first quarter of 2015. In the lot, the Germans are in the lead, an increase of 106% compared to the same period of the previous year.
This regained optimism by professionals is also explained by the increase in the activity of the Marrakech-Menara international airport, which showed a positive result both in terms of the number of passengers and aircraft movements, and by sustained growth in tourism investments, specifies the same source. In this regard, the accommodation capacity of the ochre city will be strengthened by 2,000 additional rooms with the upcoming opening of a dozen new hotel units, including major brands such as "Mandarin Oriental", "Mövenpick", and "Radisson". Shopping and animation offers are not left out insofar as they will be enriched by the "Menara Mall" and the Aquapark of the "Eden Andalou" which will reinforce the positioning of Marrakech as a destination for family tourism.
The CRT observes, on the other hand, that major projects are under construction and that these sites affect areas as varied as the restoration of historical monuments, the rehabilitation of the Medina and public spaces, gardens and green spaces, cleanliness, and urban travel. Likewise, the emblematic Jamaâ El-Fna square will be the subject of a specific programme intended in particular to ensure the sustainability of its animations. Renowned for its legendary palaces, its Riads, and the extreme beauty of its sites, the Ochre City also continues to reinforce its vocation as a destination for events par excellence. In this context, the same source notes that the month of April was marked by exceptional events with invaluable media repercussions, including the One Thousand and One Nights wedding of Malek Mikati, son of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in which a thousand personalities from the world of politics, finance, and art from the four corners of the world took part. We will also remember the organisation of the British Polo Day in the presence of prestigious guests, such as Eve and Richard Branson.
