The number of tourists visiting Morocco in 2016 reached 10.3 million, an increase of 1.5 percent compared to 2015.

 The increase in the number of tourists in 2016 hit 1.5 percent amid a difficult international context. It contributed to Morocco’s GDP with $ 6 billion representing an increase of 3.4 percent in the sector’s revenue.

In an interview with Agence France-Press (AFP), Head of the National Observatory for Tourism, Said Mouhid, stated that the figures are “honorable” and “very positive,” especially under the political instability that affected international tourism.

In its statistical bulletin released earlier this month, the National Observatory for Tourism revealed that the number of tourists from Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium rose respectively by 2, 2 and 1 percent. In addition, the number of visitors coming from the United Kingdom, Germany and France increased by 7, 3 and 2 percent respectively.

According to the same report, the number of Russian tourists rose by 3,240, reaching a total of 22,240 Russian tourists, for 2016.

The National Observatory for Tourism also indicated that, based on data from tourism professionals, the overall number of overnight stays in all the certified tourism institutions increased by 3.3 percent compared with the previous year.

Source :Morocco World News