2023-09-13 15:00:00
EARTHQUAKE – The earthquake that struck Morocco last Friday goes beyond the human tragedy. Its economic consequences also worry tourism, a key sector for the country.
The impact of the earthquake, which has already led to the loss of more than 2,000 lives and significant damage across the country, comes alongside efforts undertaken by Morocco to transform its economy. Efforts which aim to modernize the industrial and agricultural fields, while strengthening the country’s position on the international tourism scene.
Tourism is one of Morocco’s most important economic sectors in terms of revenue, with tourism receipts reaching $2.4 billion at the end of March 2023. An increase of 52% over the last first three months of the year 2023 compared to the year 2019. (source: World Tourism Organization – UNWTO).
The tragedy occurs in Morocco at a time when the country is engaged in a phase of major economic transformation, thus calling into question the progress made so far.
The growth of the tourism industry in Morocco
The Moroccan tourism model, like that of Tunisia, has attracted many foreign tourists in recent years, seduced by low prices, culture and proximity to Europe. Morocco welcomes a third of tourists traveling to Africa, with Marrakech as the leader in the luxury sector and the country’s economic engine.
The country has therefore found a good lever in tourism. According to official figures from the Office des Changes, the sector provides around 548,000 direct jobs, or 5% of jobs in the entire country. (It should be noted that Morocco has a historically low activity rate, mainly due to a significant deficit in the integration of women into the labor market).
Dependence on tourism
To understand the extent of Morocco’s dependence on tourism, it should be noted that in 1995, the country received 2.6 million visitors, while in 2019, just before the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, this figure reached 13.1 million. If in the 1990s it represented 3.3% of GDP, today it represents around 7%.
This 7% of GDP is intended to cover all national health expenditure, which amounts to around 6%. The government had previously announced a public investment of 560 million euros in a bid to attract more tourists and improve the country’s infrastructure, but these funds are now being directed towards reconstruction efforts.
Recovery tourism under threat
Morocco, heavily dependent on the tourism sector, faces complicated prospects for the future. In addition to the appearance of the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of borders, which constituted a major challenge for the Moroccan economy, and from which the country was beginning to recover, it is now once again affected by the earthquake of earth occurred this weekend.
The country is already feeling the repercussions of travel and booking cancellations, putting its economy at risk. In this scenario, Morocco risks experiencing a situation similar to that of Turkey, which was hit by an earthquake last winter, leading to a decrease in reservations in regions far from the areas directly affected by the earthquake.
If reservations stop and recovery tourism is interrupted, after having suffered a terrible human tragedy, Morocco risks facing major financial problems.
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