• Morocco welcomed 16.6M tourists Jan-Oct 2025, up 14% year-on-year
• Annual arrivals may exceed 19M, surpassing 18M government target
• Tourism revenues projected to top $13.4B amid hotel upgrades, strong demand
  

The steady growth of Morocco’s tourism sector in 2025 indicates that performance is likely to surpass government forecasts. The Kingdom welcomed 16.6 million visitors between January and October, up 14% from the same period in 2024, according to figures released by Tourism Minister Fatim-Zahra Ammor.

That amounts to an average of about 1.66 million tourists per month. If this pace continues through November and December, annual arrivals could exceed 19 million. This estimate does not yet include the usual year-end surge driven by holiday travel, particularly from European and Gulf markets.

December is traditionally one of the sector’s most lucrative months, boosted by school holidays, family trips, and urban tourism in destinations such as Marrakesh, Agadir, Fez, and Tangier. Growth is also being supported by the return of Asian and North American visitors and by the upgrade of the hotel sector, recently illustrated by a 1.5-billion-dirham (around $162 million) investment agreement between Alliances Group and Rixos Hotels.

The government had set a target of 18 million tourists for 2025, according to the report on public establishments and enterprises (EEP) that accompanies the 2026 draft Finance Bill. Beyond visitor numbers, attention is turning to tourism revenues, which are projected to reach 124 billion dirhams ($13.4 billion) this year. If current trends continue, revenues should surpass that target, further boosting the sector’s contribution to GDP and employment.

In 2024, Morocco attracted 17.4 million visitors, overtaking Egypt for the first time to become Africa’s leading tourist destination. The country now aims to exceed 26 million visitors by 2030 and rank among the world’s top ten tourism destinations.

Henoc Dossa