In spite of the dampened demand from Europe, the political turbulence elsewhere in the region, and a bombing in Marrakech, the Moroccan tourism sector is seeing significant countercyclical expansion this year as new foreign investment in hotels boosts supply, aided by an ambitious government-backed strategy aimed to increase both bed capacity and visitor numbers in one of the country’s largest GDP contributors.The first Four Seasons Hotel in Morocco, and in the Maghreb region, opened its doors in November in Marrakech. The Dh1.7bn (€152m) project, jointly carried out by the Saudi Kingdom Holding Company and its subsidiary, Kingdom Hotel Investment, covers some 15 ha and consists of 141 rooms. The chain is planning a second hotel in the country in Casablanca, scheduled to open in 2013 in the Anfaplace Living Resort.
The Four Seasons is only one of many international hotel operators that have been pouring into Morocco in recent years. Sheraton, Hilton, Ritz-Carlton and Oberoi, for instance, are also present in the country, and more hotels are planning to join them: Oetker Collection will open its Dh560m (€50m) Palais Namaskar in March 2012, and Sofitel is planning two hotels in Agadir and Casablanca by summer 2012, bringing its total number of Moroccan units to eight. Another two Ibis and two Novotels have already been committed and will begin construction in 2012 for openings in 2013 or 2014.
The government is hoping this investment will continue so it can achieve a target of 200,000 beds by the year 2020, which will necessitate an investment of up to Dh100bn (€8.9bn). In 2010, the country’s hotel bed capacity stood at 178,000, a substantial increase from the 97,000 beds in the country in the early 2000s when it launched Vision 2010, Morocco’s national tourism development strategy.
The state has since embarked on its second long-term strategy, Vision 2020, under which it hopes to not only increase hotel capacity to 200,000 beds, but create 470,000 new jobs, boost tourism revenue to Dh140bn (€12.54bn), and increase the number of international and domestic visitors to its hotels and resorts... The country is also looking to explore niche markets such as business tourism. In spite of the country’s obvious potential for conventions and exhibitions, it lacks both the profile and site capacity of other Mediterranean destinations such as Istanbul. As a result, the Ministry of Tourism has already selected consultants to carry out studies into the potential of business tourism and a promotional campaign is set to be launched by the end of the year or early 2012.
With continued investments flowing into the country and the government’s strong commitment to diversify its offerings under its Vision 2020, the sector’s infrastructure is bound to expand significantly in the coming years. That’s good news for private investors, who are looking to accommodate the country’s new visitors, and for the government, which is banking on investors to help it expand the sector.
via Oxford Business Group
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