The volume of tourist arrivals at border posts reached around 6.5 million tourists in the first half of 2023 (H1-2023), up sharply by +92%, i.e. an additional more than 3 million tourists compared to the same period a year earlier, says the Tourism Observatory.
Compared to H1-2022, all major source markets performed well. These include France (+75% with an additional +415 thousand tourists), Spain (+180% with +407 thousand tourists), United Kingdom (+100% with +167 thousand tourists), Italy (+141% with +101 thousand tourists) and the United States (+111% with +94 thousand tourists), according to the Observatory statistics for the month of June 2023.
The three main airports of the Kingdom namely, Marrakech Menara, Mohammed V and Agadir Al Massira welcomed a total of 3.2 million tourists, or 49% of total tourist arrivals, adds the same source, noting that the three airports experienced positive results compared to the end of June 2022 (+91% for Marrakech Menara, +41% for Mohammed V and +79% for Agadir Al Massira).
In addition, for the month of June 2023 alone, the volume of tourist arrivals at border posts reached around 1.4 million tourists, i.e. a sharp increase of +20% compared to June 2022.
The local economy of the southern cities of Spain particularly has flourished as a result of the continuous influx of the Moroccan community residing abroad wishing to cross the ports designated for the Marhaba operation, as Malaga, Algeciras and Tarifa witnessed significant economic movement during the past days.
A group of Iberian publications reported that most of the local hotels in southern Spain were full, highlighting that Moroccans rank first in terms of reservations, whether it comes to members of the community residing abroad or Moroccan tourists.
Many Moroccans travel to southern Spain for the summer holidays because of the reasonable prices. Which makes a large segment of families prefer to travel to Spain to stay in Morocco, given the quality of tourism services and low prices.