The Directorate of Studies and Forecasts of the Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance revealed a decrease in the number of tourist arrivals to the country, by 78.5 percent during 2020.
According to a memorandum issued by the Directorate on the preliminary economic indicators for the year 2020, tourism in the Kingdom has been affected, despite the measures taken to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the sector, indicating that the number of foreign tourists decreased by 92 percent, and the number of expatriate Moroccans living abroad decreased by 59 percent.
It also disclosed that the tourism sector has been severely affected by the repercussions of the health crisis and the measures taken by the authorities to contain the Corona epidemic.
The Moroccan tourism accounts for about 7 percent of Morocco's GDP, and more than half a million people work in it, according to the Ministry of Tourism, it is also considered a major source of foreign exchange, as well as exports and remittances from workers abroad.
According to the Federation of Investors in Tourism Transport, more than 11,000 vehicles have been parked due to the recession that affected the tourism activity, warning that this would result in the loss of job opportunities in the event that no urgent intervention is made in order to preserve employment and not be laid off.
Source (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Newspaper, Edited)
