The Long Rise

The 1960s were the beginning. King Hassan II — recognising Morocco's potential as a Mediterranean destination — invested in beach resort infrastructure at Agadir (rebuilt after the devastating 1960 earthquake) and opened the country to package tourism from France and Spain. The hippie trail brought a different kind of visitor to Marrakech, Essaouira, and the Rif.

The 1970s and 1980s saw steady growth driven by charter flights from Europe and the expansion of hotel capacity in Marrakech and Agadir. Tourism was concentrated in two products: beach holidays (Agadir) and cultural tourism (Marrakech, Fes). The numbers grew from roughly 1 million international visitors in 1970 to 4 million by 1990.

Vision 2010, launched in 2001, was the first comprehensive national tourism strategy. It targeted 10 million visitors by 2010 and succeeded — arrivals reached 9.3 million. The strategy introduced the Plan Azur — six new coastal resort developments designed to diversify beyond Agadir. It also liberalised the airline market, attracting Ryanair, EasyJet, and other low-cost carriers that dramatically increased connectivity.

Vision 2020 followed, targeting 20 million visitors and emphasising cultural tourism, rural tourism, and sustainability alongside the beach product. The strategy was disrupted by COVID-19 — arrivals collapsed from 13 million in 2019 to under 3 million in 2020. Recovery was faster than expected, with numbers exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 2023.

The current trajectory points toward 26 million visitors by 2030, accelerated by the World Cup. The infrastructure programme — high-speed rail, airport expansions, 80,000 new hotel rooms — is designed to absorb this growth. The strategic emphasis is shifting toward higher-spending visitors, longer stays, and dispersal beyond the Marrakech-Agadir axis.

The question is whether Morocco can grow volume while protecting the qualities that attract visitors — the medinas, the craft, the landscape, the culture. Tourism at scale is inherently destructive to the things tourists come to see. Morocco's challenge is to build the industry without destroying the product.