Aa number of projects have been unveiled that aim to boost visitor numbers from Europe and private investment opportunities, particularly in coastal areas.
In the last week of June, Ali Ghannam, the president of the National Federation of Tourism, said that Vision 2020, launched in 2001, and its mission to double the number of tourists from 9.35m in 2011 to 20m by 2020, making Morocco one of the top-20 tourist destinations in the world, has been given new impetus with a focus on private sector involvement.
Vision 2020 examines all the elements that impact tourism development, including financing, infrastructure, aviation and taxes. While the government is financing a large part of Vision 2020 through the Moroccan Funds for Tourism Development (FMDT), the banking sector has also contributed €1.3bn to the project.
The plan partners with the private sector to advance improvements in the aforementioned areas, while paying special attention to the development of sustainable tourism. So far, six structural programmes have been defined as part of the overall effort, including the “animation, sport and leisure” section, which is targeted at adding infrastructure to the seaside, and the “Heritage and Legacy” development, a programme that seeks to emphasise Morocco’s cultural identity and heritage.
If the government and its private partners succeed in implementing Vision 2020, tourism’s contribution to GDP should more than double from Dh60bn (€5.3bn) at present to Dh140bn (€12.4bn) in 2020, local media said when reporting the plan.
Morocco is also looking outside of its national borders for partners to boost the tourism industry. In early July, 80 entrepreneurs and tourism agencies gathered in Almería, Spain to discuss a new public-private collaboration between Spain and Morocco known as Nexotour.
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