Morocco Savvy

Ouarzazate saw more tourists in 2006 than the year before - Austrian and Dutch visitors scored the most spectacular growth.

The number of Austrian visitors to Ouarzazate who spent at least one night in a classified hotel rose from a paltry 34 in 2005 to 581 last year. That’s an increase of over 1,600 percent, the local tourism authority neatly points out, Le Matin writes today.

Ouarzazate also persuaded 90 percent more Dutch tourists to stay at least a night in the city. Spanish arrivals were up 15 percent, while the number of French visitors slipped by 7 percent.

French tourists are traditionally the main market for Ouarzazate, and remained the largest group of foreigners in 2006. The total figures show a 10 percent increase in the number of visitors to Ouarzazate.

But, Le Matin continues, the average visitor stays in the city for just two days. People who work in tourism in Ourzazate blame this on “a flagrant lack of entertainment” in the city, the paper adds.

The president of the local tourist board, Mohamed Saïd M’rani, appeals for improved accessibility for his city. He tells Le Matin that Ouarzazate needs more international flights into its airport, and urges the authorities to seriously consider a tunnel between Marrakech and Ouarzazate.

Right now, to reach Ouarzazate from Marrakech, people have to cross the Tizi n’Tichka mountain pass. While the four-hour drive is very scenic, a trip over the winding road can be challenging. During the winter, the road is sometimes completely shut by heavy rains or snow.

A tunnel, Mr. M’rani tells Le Matin would not just improve accessibility for Ouarzazate, it would also open up “the entire Draa valley”.

Italian tour operator Alpitour will step up its promotion of Morocco and open new air routes between the countries.

Gruppo Alpitour, Italy’s largest tour operator, today signed a deal with the Moroccan government in which the group pledges to double the number of Italians who book a holiday in Morocco through its network of travel agents over the next three years.

Around 20,000 Italians booked a holiday in Morocco through Alpitour in 2006, out of total of 150,000 Italian tourists who visited the country that year. The government in Rabat hopes to triple that last number by 2010.

As part of the agreement, Alpitour will introduce new direct flights between the countries through its own airline Neos and buy extra seats on routes operated by Moroccan airlines Atlas Blue and Royal Air Maroc.

Neos is expected to open direct routes to Essaouira and Oujda, where massive beach resorts are being built under Morocco’s ambitious tourist development program. More routes are said to be under consideration.

The agreement aims to triple the number of Neos’ passengers to Morocco.

The deal with Alpitour follows similar agreements between the Moroccan government and tour operators like TUI, Globalia and Belgium’s JetTour and budget airline Ryanair.

• But not every agreement seems to work

The privatization of Morocco’s largest shipping company is attracting interest from all corners of the world.

Most of us know Comanav as one of the ferry companies that sail between Algeciras and Tangier. But there’s more to the Compagnie Marocaine de Navigation, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year.

It operates passenger services between France, Italy and Morocco, a ferry in Senegal, and cargo ships across the globe. The company already runs the port of Casablanca and will add the management of a container terminal at Tangier’s new Mediterranée port to its business.

The company is up for sale. The Moroccan state wants to privatize its 45 percent stake in the company and has persuaded Comanav’s other shareholders to follow suit.

According to today’s L’Economiste, a who’s-who of international shipping is lining up for the take-over. The bidders include rival ferry operator Trasmediterranea from Spain, French groups SNCM and CMA-CGM, Italy’s Gruppo Grimaldi and Maersk from Denmark.

Other names that have been mentioned are another Moroccan shipping line, IMTC, Dubai Ports World (which gained prominence when it had to sell operation leases for US ports over security concerns) and a series of Latin American and Asian companies.

Even the Chinese giant Hutchison Whampoa is rumored to be interested in Comanav.

Bids will have to start at around US$ 260 million, the minimum set by the Moroccan ministry of Finance. As part of the deal, the new owners must pledge even more money to upgrade Comanav’s ageing fleet.

It’s worth remembering that only a few years ago, many analysts thought Comanav was heading for bankruptcy. More cargo lines and better logistical management turned the company around, its president tells L’Economiste today. 

Comanav then went on to buy its rival Limadet in 2003.

That’s pretty good navigating.

• Everything you need to know about ferries from Spain 

What’s the measure of a country’s welfare? In Morocco, economic indicators are up, but new anxieties are looming.

Economic growth stood at 8.1 percent in 2006, the Finance ministry says. The unemployment rate dropped below 10 percent for the first time. The all-shares index at the Casablanca stock exchange gained over 70 percent in value.

Foreign investment is up, and Moroccans are buying more cars, mobile phones and broadband internet subscriptions - to name just another few random markers.

But I believe that the true measure of a country’s well-being are its worries.

Moroccans (and their government) used to agonize over unemployment, inflation, the trade deficit, illiteracy - and all the rest of us looked warily at press freedom, democracy, and human rights. The big issues.

So it’s a bit of a surprise that Morocco has now reached the point of well-being where it can afford to worry about noise pollution.

Health has been on the country’s agenda for a while. But again, the big issues ruled, like the infant death rate, access to health care and to drinking water. Never, it seemed, the ailments of modern life.

Now, though, Moroccan daily Libération sounds the alarm bell over “the blare of drills, the zoom of aircraft, the rattling of trains, the honking of car horns” and other sounds that torment Casablanca every day.

“A phenomenon we should take seriously,” the paper writes, outlining the risks to the city’s inhabitants.

Today, Libération adds burn-out and depression among students to the new health risks facing Morocco. In a study to be published in March, researchers from El Jadida university followed 2,000 students over a two-week period.

Until now, psychological problems have been “neglected enormously”, one researcher says. “There’s a taboo surrounding the issue. People are interested in physical diseases and overlook the psychology.”

It’s a sign of Morocco’s growing prosperity, if you ask me.

• There’s some tips about health issues for tourists and for their children over at the Morocco FAQ

Morocco’s tourism statistics for 2006 keep breaking all the records. The country attracted 6.5 million tourists last year.

That’s 12 percent more than in 2005, the Ministry of Tourism has calculated.  At the same time, the number of nights foreigners spent in classified hotels grew by 11 percent last year.

The most spectacular growth was achieved in the UK market. The number of nights spent in classified hotels by British tourists grew by over 40 percent. Spanish, Italian and German visitors also spent more nights in Moroccan hotels.

Growth in terms of hotel nights was strongest in Agadir (up 11 percent), followed by Casablanca (+10%), Rabat (+9%) and Marrakech (+7%).

Half of the foreign visitors were Moroccan migrants, or “Marocains résidents à l’étranger” (MRE), as they’re known in their native country. Mind you, even the children and grandchildren of the original migrants are considered “MRE” by the authorities.

Morocco’s ambition is to welcome 10 million tourists in 2010.

• Visitors spent $6.2 billion in 2006

Foreign visitors spent US$ 6.2 billion in Morocco last year, almost 30 percent more than in 2005.

The Moroccan Foreign Exchange Office has calculated that the country’s total revenue from tourism last year was 53 billion dirham. That is almost 30 percent more than the 41 billion dirham in revenue over 2005, press agency MAP reports.

Last December was an especially good month for Morocco, MAP adds. Tourists spent almost US$ 600 million in Morocco during that month alone, up 60 percent from December 2005.

Tourism is now a bigger earner for Morocco than the money sent to family by Moroccans living abroad.

• See what $6.2 billion could buy you in Morocco