Current Developments in Morocco

Morocco’s Vision 2010 is the country’s tourism development plan, initiated in 2001.  Vision 2010 is a powerful tool to kick-start development by upgrading the country’s infrastructure, boosting investment, employment, income distribution and education levels within the population. The defined objectives are very ambitious both in terms of quantity and quality. The ‘2010 Vision’ sets itself the goal of achieving the following figure based objectives by the year 2010:

• Tourist arrivals: planned to attract 10 million tourists, 7 million of whom are international tourists (against 5.5 Million in 2005).
• Hotel capacity: 160,000 beds will be created (130,000 beds in coastal tourist resorts and 30,000 beds in the cultural destinations of the country) increasing the national capacity up to 230,000 beds.
• Investment: the volume should reach 8 to 9bn Euros, (planned investment in the new coastal tourist resorts, infrastructures, hotel trade and entertainment).
• Tourist receipts: expected to reach 48bn of Euros.
• Jobs: 600,000 new jobs will be created.
• Contribution of tourism to GDP: this contribution should annually rise by 8.5% (on average), which would bring it to around 20% by the year 2010.

Within the framework of the ‘2010 Vision’ the action plan relates to both “Coastal Resort” and "Cultural development,” aiming to increase the tourist capacity of the country through the provision of 80,000 rooms by the year 2010. This is aimed at promoting Morocco as an international destination and will be allocated as 65,000 rooms in coastal destinations such as Tétouan, along with 15,000 rooms in cultural destinations such as Fez.

The Tourism Department, in partnership with other Ministerial Departments concerned, has launched a number of initiatives:

1. The "Azur Plan" which aims at the creation of six new coastal resorts on six priority sites, notably:

• Mediterrania-Saidia.
• Port Lixus.
• Mazagan.
• Mogador Essaouira.
• Taghazout
• Plage Blanche.

 Additional Planning Projects of tourist areas include: Aguedal (Marrakech) and Ghandouri (Tangier), whose development is being undertaken by Morocco Hotels and Villages (MHV), a subsidiary of the Deposit and Management Office (CDG). These projects are at an advanced stage.

The creation of new touristic areas, by the Tourism Department, has also started including the improvement of existing destinations such as Fez, Casablanca, Agadir, Tangier & Tétouan.

The signing of an “Open Skies” agreement with the EU in December 2005 has fostered further growth in passenger air transport, with Morocco’s Airports Authority (ONDA) aiming for the country’s airports to be able to handle at least 30 million passengers each year by 2010.
There is a large port being constructed between Tangier and Tétouan, provisionally named the ‘Golden Mediterranean’. This port will take freight away from the Tangier port, returning the area to a more touristic destination. The new port is intended to be the main hub into Africa, with good road links being built in the surrounding areas.

A new motorway between Tangier and Tétouan is under construction, and will provide excellent access to coastal destinations. A recently announced TGV train line is also being planned to link Tangiers to Marrakech.

Additional investment into road networks and internal transport links are benefiting the country, however larger scale developments such as the underwater tunnel link between Spain and Morocco have not been taken into consideration, as they will only come to fruition in the longer term.