Morocco. Tourism in the economy. Tourism governance and funding. Ref. Ares(2016) /06/2016

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1 Ref. Ares(2016) /06/2016 II. PARTNER COUNTRY PROFILES MOROCCO Morocco Tourism in the economy Tourism is one of the main economic drivers in Morocco. The Moroccan tourism sector performed well in 2014 with international tourist arrivals reaching 10.3 million, up 2.4% year on year. The sector employed people (4.7% of total jobs) and contributed MAD 61.9 billion to GDP (6.7% of total GDP). Internal tourism consumption amounted to MAD billion. France remains the Moroccan s strongest inbound travel market, with nearly 1.8 million tourists, representing 17.4% of the total arrivals in Morocco in The other major source markets for Moroccan tourism are Spain (6.6%), followed by the United Kingdom (4.6%), which has grown by 73.4% between 2008 and 2014, and Belgium (around 2.6%). Tourism is the biggest component of service exports, generating foreign currency income of MAD 59.3 billion, up by 2.9% from International travel receipts accounted for 45% of Morocco s service exports in Tourism governance and funding The institutions responsible for developing tourism in Morocco are governed by the National Programme Contract that sets out the Vision 2020 Tourism Strategy for the period 2010 to The Ministry of Tourism is responsible for working with the relevant administrations to draft, implement and evaluate the tourism strategy. It conducts research; drafts and supervises legislation on the organisation of tourist activities; manages and supports compliance with regulations; guides and monitors decentralised services and their resourcing; contributes to the tourism training strategy and supervises public training institutions; and cultivates relations and co-operation with specialist organisations. The following bodies are attached to and under the supervision of the Ministry of Tourism: Moroccan Society for Tourism Engineering (SMIT), which aims to promote investments through the implementation of the development strategy for tourism, by designing, setting up and tracking the main tourism projects, National Tourism Office of Morocco (ONMT), which is in charge of promoting, marketing and growing the destination and air travel. The Ministry maintains regular contact with different stakeholders within a clear and efficient institutional framework. Several bodies preside over links to the private sector: Six Committees co-chaired by the Minister of Tourism and the Chair of the National Tourism Confederation, focus on private sector engagement with the Vision

2 Strategy, identification of key issues, and convening relevant parties to solve problems. These Committees cover the following issues: governance, competitiveness, air travel, output and investment, human capital and sustainability. The Tourism Observatory, which is a public-private initiative set up in 2005 to support the development of the tourist industry. Its three main roles are information provision, communication, and monitoring. The Ministry of Tourism has 24 regional and provincial representatives whose main roles are: to gather information, support sector bodies, promote tourism, monitor tourism sites, inspect, co-ordinate and manage activities, ensure smooth running of training institutions, and implement government decisions. The Ministry s budget comes from the central budget and totalled MAD 724 million in 2015, with 64% earmarked for investment. The investment budget is divided between the various entities under the Ministry s responsibility: 23% for the central administration; 11% for training schools; 55% for the National Tourism Office of Morocco; and 11% for the Moroccan Society for Tourism Engineering. The National Tourism Office of Morocco has other sources of funding, first and foremost the tourism promotion tax a charge paid by tourists and levied on overnight stays in classified accommodation, which varies between MAD 1 and 15 per night, depending on the category of establishment. Morocco: Organisational chart of tourism bodies Ministry of Tourism National Tourism Office of Morocco (ONMT) Moroccan Society for Tourism Engineering (SMIT) General Inspectorate General Secretariat Strategy and Co-operation Directorate Regulation, Development and Quality Directorate Resources and Training Directorate Chair of National Tourism Confederation Public Private Partnership Ministry of Tourism Governance Competitiveness Promotion and Air Travel Investment Human Capital Sustainability Source: OECD, adapted from the Ministry of Tourism,

3 Tourism policies and programmes Morocco s Vision 2020 Tourism Strategy aims to double the size of the Moroccan tourist industry, pushing it into the world s top 20 tourist destinations and establishing Morocco s sustainable development credentials in the Mediterranean basin. This ambition is reflected in a unique tourism model that combines vigorous growth with responsible management of the environment and respect for socio-cultural authenticity. The Strategy is based on three fundamentals: a regional planning policy for tourism, a new governance structure and an embedded sustainable development approach. Achieving the Vision 2020 required the development of several integrated thematic plans focussing on marketing, competitiveness, human resources, and sustainability. Vision 2020 s main challenges include implementing six major development programs for a diversified portfolio of products, building around culture, the seaside and nature, with an underlying theme of sustainability, and supplemented with programmes centred on certain high added value niches: Azur 2020: Which aims to provide an internationally competitive range of seaside resorts for Morocco, Culture and Heritage: Which aims to structure and valorize the cultural heritage of Morocco, Green/Sustainable Development: Which aims to value and preserve natural and rural resources, Domestic Tourism: Offering a product tailored to Moroccans, Entertainment, Sports and Leisure: Which aims to create a rich and varied offer complementing the basic tourism infrastructure, High added value niches: Relating to business, welfare and health tourism. The main priorities for improving tourism performance are to: Raise the quality of professional training and higher education, Improve the sector s attractiveness to young people, Make tourism companies more competitive, Give Morocco greater online visibility as a tourist destination, Diversify the tourist offering, Roll out sustainability tracking in the tourist sector. Morocco recognises that in a fiercely competitive environment and difficult global economy, the quality of the tourist experience plays a decisive role in maintaining the positive results recorded by the tourist sector in recent years, and in securing Morocco s place as a global tourist destination. Particular attention has therefore been paid to accommodation and to putting in place a quality programme, including a classification system that ensures service quality matches tourists expectations (Box 1.18). However, while the system is mandatory, many establishments currently operate outside it. This has implications for quality, as well as leading to unfair competition and tarnishing the image of the destination. The Ministries of Tourism and the Interior have introduced an integrated, participative approach to address this, involving: Prevention highlighting the importance of applying the legal and regulatory provisions that govern the authorisation and classification processes for tourist establishments, 361

4 Correction carrying out an operation to regularise the situation, backed up by educating the unclassified establishments in the importance of compliance with the classification system. Morocco has played a key role in promoting the sustainable development of tourism. In 2014 it was voted co-lead of the Sustainable Tourism Programme, which is part of the United Nation s 10-Year Framework on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10 YFP). Within Morocco, Vision 2020 follows the principles of sustainable development, with a focus on improving relevant skills in the sector through an e-learning platform, awareness raising measures and good practice guides. The Ministry is tracking sustainability through the use of indicators that are being rolled out nationwide. It also seeks to use tourism in the protection and promotion of ecological sites and has undertaken pilot projects on the impact of tourism on local people. 362

5 Statistical profile Table 1. Morocco: Domestic, inbound and outbound tourism TOURISM FLOWS, THOUSAND Domestic tourism Total domestic trips Overnight visitors (tourists) Same-day visitors (excursionists) Nights in all types of accommodation Hotels and similar establishments Specialised establishments Other collective establishments Private accommodation Inbound tourism Total international arrivals Overnight visitors (tourists) Same-day visitors (excursionists) Top markets France Spain United Kingdom Belgium Germany Nights in all types of accommodation Hotels and similar establishments Specialised establishments Other collective establishments Private accommodation Outbound tourism Total international departures Overnight visitors (tourists) Same-day visitors (excursionists) Top destinations TOURISM RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE, MILLION USD Inbound tourism Total international receipts International travel receipts International passenger transport receipts Outbound tourism Total international expenditure International travel expenditure International passenger transport expenditure Not available Disclaimer: Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database)

6 .. Not available; e Estimated value Disclaimer: Table 2. Morocco: Enterprises and employment in tourism Number of establishments Number of persons employed Total e e e e e Tourism industries e e Accommodation services for visitors Hotels and similar establishments e e Food and beverage serving industry e e Passenger transport e e Air passenger transport Railways passenger transport Road passenger transport Water passenger transport Passenger transport supporting services Transport equipment rental Travel agencies and other reservation services industry e e Cultural industry e e Sports and recreation industry e e Retail trade of country-specific tourism characteristic goods e e Other country-specific tourism industries Other industries e e Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database) Not available Disclaimer: Table 3. Morocco: Internal tourism consumption Million MAD 2014 Domestic tourism consumption Inbound tourism consumption Internal tourism consumption Total Consumption products Tourism characteristic products Accommodation services for visitors Food and beverage serving services Passenger transport services Air passenger transport services Railways passenger transport services Road passenger transport services Water passenger transport services Passenger transport supporting services Transport equipment rental services Travel agencies and other reservation services industry Cultural services Sports and recreation services Country-specific tourism characteristic goods Country-specific tourism characteristic services Other consumption products Tourism connected products Non-tourism related consumption products Non-consumption products Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database)

7 From: OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2016 Access the complete publication at: Please cite this chapter as: OECD (2016), Morocco, in OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD member countries. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. You can copy, download or print OECD content for your own use, and you can include excerpts from OECD publications, databases and multimedia products in your own documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable acknowledgment of OECD as source and copyright owner is given. All requests for public or commercial use and translation rights should be submitted to Requests for permission to photocopy portions of this material for public or commercial use shall be addressed directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at or the Centre français d exploitation du droit de copie (CFC) at contact@cfcopies.com.