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afrol News, 30 August - In spite of all efforts by the Moroccan government to avoid a drop in tourist arrivals to the country, the just released number of the first half year of 2002 have disclosed a reduction of 13.7 percent of tourists arrivals compared to the first half year of 2001. In the first half of 2002, 1.03 million foreign tourists visited Morocco, as opposed to the 1.20 million that had visited the country during the first half of 2001. These fresh numbers disclose that tourist arrivals - which constitute one of Morocco's foremost foreign currency earners - have decreased by 13.7 percent during the last year. According to the statistics, the majority of those tourists that had chosen another destination this year had been North Americans, where a drop in arrivals of 42.7 percent had been registered. Other principal countries of tourist origin failing the Moroccan destination included the neighbouring Maghreb countries (a reduction of 27.7 percent in arrivals) and Europe (a reduction of 12.2 percent). Among Europeans, the drop had been most marked among Scandinavians, were 54.2 percent had chosen other destinations this year. These were followed by Austrian, Italian, British and German tourists. According to an analysis in Moroccan state radio yesterday, "the regression of the activity in the national tourist industry is attributed to the impact of the events of 11 September 2001, equal to that of other tourist destinations, especially in Northern Africa and the Middle East." At the end of the month of June, the King of Morocco himself, Mohammed VI, spoke of the necessity for his country to accelerate the development of the tourist sector, given the increase of investments in this sector and the constant increase of Moroccan tourist complexes. Mohammed VI also reaffirmed the necessity for Morocco to remain highly mobilised to follow up its strategy to accelerate the development of the tourist sector. For the Sovereign, the revitalisation of this sector was vital for the Moroccan economy and it was decisive for the development of the country. The tourism sector annually contributes with US$ 280 million to Morocco's economy and employs 600,000 persons. During the last decade, Morocco has experienced a considerable increase in its incomes from the tourist sector; a trend only turned by 11 September 2001. Even 2001 was a relatively good year for Morocco's tourist industry. In spite of the worldwide crisis that hit the sector last year, the revenues from Morocco's tourist industry grew by 3 percent at large in 2001. In an African context, only Tunisia surpassed Morocco's growth in tourist revenues last year, with an increase of 6 percent. Sources: Based on Moroccan govt, press reports and afrol archives
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