This year, in Morocco as elsewhere, the Jewish Passover or Passover 2023 which coincides with the holy month of Ramadan, will be celebrated from April 5. Indeed, this Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at sunset, the first Seder (meal) will take place after dark, and the second the next day, Thursday, April 6. These festivities will end on the evening of Thursday April 13, 2023 with the Mimouna.
During the feast (Hametz), many rites will be observed, including the prohibition to eat any food containing yeast (pasta, bread, etc.), the prescription to eat matzot or unleavened bread (unleavened), in fidelity to the story of the exodus from Egypt and the evocation of the miracles that took place there. It is also an opportunity for many Jews to travel since during these holidays they refrain from working in particular.
The Kingdom is a privileged destination to spend the Pessah there since it is considered to be a place of pilgrimage of Judaism for its religious celebrations and in particular the Jewish Passover where the Mimouna is commemorated on the last day. The two main cities dedicated to receiving the Jewish community this Passover 2023 are Marrakech and Essaouira in this case. But many others including Casablanca, Fez, Tangier… are ready to welcome it.
The effervescence is such that hotel establishments no longer know where to turn as reservations are pouring in from all sides and a massive arrival of Israelis and the Jewish diaspora in Morocco is expected in the so-called cities.
Last year it was estimated that some 80,000 Israeli tourists (excluding dual nationals, Americans, French, Canadians, etc.) had stayed in the Kingdom, including around 15,000 during this specific period alone. The supervisory authority and the ONMT are counting on 200,000 arrivals of Israeli tourists very soon. The current monthly average of arrivals is 10,000.
Since the creation of the e-visa last July, more than 60% of applications have come from Israel. Already before its implementation several hoteliers had noticed an increasing flow of Israeli arrivals from last June. This enthusiasm has translated into figures with a greater number of electronic visa applications.
The global Jewish market is expected to generate one million Israeli visitors by 2028. In this regard we rely on the strong ties they have kept from Morocco to develop this tourist potential. Historically, the Kingdom is full of an unprecedented Jewish heritage (cultural, religious…). This should encourage Israelis of Moroccan descent (nearly a million), residing in Israel or not, to come and visit or revisit Morocco.
The upward trend is becoming clearer. We recorded a growth of 65% between the period from January to September 2019 when the figures of the guardianship had recorded 25,802 Israeli arrivals by air in Morocco against 42,666 for the same period in 2022. And again, because of Dame Covid, Morocco had only reopened its borders from February 2022 and not for all airlines (flights to Marrakech having only resumed at the end of March and April). That said, this trend is expected to grow and accelerate further in fiscal 2023.
Three airlines from the two countries currently serve Casablanca and Marrakech, they are the Moroccan Royal Air Maroc (RAM) and the Israelis El Al and Israel. There are 4 weekly flights from Israel serving Marrakech and they are all fully booked since the opening of this line. As a reminder, RAM inaugurated its first direct flight between Casablanca and Tel Aviv on March 13, 2022 and the schedule provides for four flights per week on this route.