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H.E. Mr. Abdelkader LECHEHEB

Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Russian Federation

Moscow, April, 28, 2010

The Kingdom of MoroccoAttractiveness and Potentialities

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1- Country profile

2- Importance of the tourism sector for the country

3- Moroccan tourism assets

4- 2010 Tourism Vision

5- Importance of Russia to Moroccan tourism

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1-Country Profile

LOCATION: NORTH WEST OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT

Area : 710 850 KM² POPULATION : 30

MILLION URBAN POPULATION :

56% CAPITAL CITY: RABAT French&English: used by

Business community CURRENCY: DIRHAM

RUR1= 0.25DH

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Geography and Climate Geographical diversity:

- Mountain chains

- Fertile plains

- Desert

Climate:

- Temperate climate in the Mediterranean area (8°C-27°C)

-Saharan climate in the south (3°C-50°C)

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History of Morocco

Berbers first inhabitants of Morocco

Phoenicians had established a maritime trading posts in Morocco from the 12 century BC

Romans had been also established in Morocco: Volubilis Roman Archeological site near Meknes (World heritage)

Arabs from the 7th century

               

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2 - Importance of the tourism sector for the economy of the country

• 9% of the Morocco’s GDP

• Direct and indirect jobs: 640.000

• Important source of foreign currency

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Some data for the year 2009

• Inbound tourists: more than 9 million

• Despite the crisis increase of 7% in the number of tourists and 16% in overnight stays

• 16.2 million of overnight stays/13.2 million in 2004

• Europe is a main tourist market for Morocco. Russia: in average 30,000 visitors/year

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3-Moroccan Tourism Assets• 2009: more than 9 million

tourists• Easy access to the country

from major European capitals

• Long and rich cultural history

• Diversity of landscapes: the visitor of Morocco can travel from snow peaks to the Saharan desert in a single day

Casablanca Flights per week

Flight

duration

Paris 35 2:40

London 14 3:00

Milan 14 2:40

Madrid 14 1:15

Frankfurt 11 3:00

New York 10 6:00

Moscow - 5:30

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Moroccan Tourism Assets

Morocco has a considerable tourism assets making the country one of the most diversified tourism destination in the world

- Seaside resorts

- Cultural tourism

- Sport tourism

- Mountain tourism

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Attractiveness of Morocco

Many famous artists and writers were fascinated by Morocco: Matisse, Delacroix, etc

Because of its natural beauties, Morocco has attracted many filmmakers

Russian TV channels are more and more interested to shoot documentaries about Morocco

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Seaside Resorts• Morocco has 2 costline on the medi

and the Atlantic ocean: 3500 km of coastline

• Main element of the Morocco tourism industry

• Attract most of the tourists from Europe

• New resorts has been identified in the 2010 Vision (Azur Plan)

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Some of the Seaside Resorts projected in the Azur Plan

Saidia: on the Mediterranean cost, paseo maritimo of 6 km

Expected capacity: 28,000 beds, 3 golf coursesKhemis Sahel: on the Atlantic Ocean at the foot of the archeological site of Lixus

Expected capacity: 11,860 beds, 2 golf courses

El Haouzia(Mazagan): 80 km far from Casablanca (Economic capital of Morocco)8,000 beds, 2 golf courses and many facilities for mater activitiesMogador: 4 km far from city of Essaouira listed world heritage10,580 beds, 3golf courses and many other facilities

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Cultural Tourism (1)• Cultural tourism is becoming one of the most attraction for

foreign tourist to learn about the history and the art of the country

• Imperial cities (Fez, Meknes, Marrakesh and Rabat): almost half of the total arrivals of foreign tourist in the country

• Morocco has curently 7 world heritage sites:1-Medina of Fez 2-Medina of Marrakesh3-Ksar Ait Ben Haddou 4-Historic City of Meknes5-Archeological Site of Volubilis 6-Medina of Tetouan

7-Medina of Essaouira

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Cultural Tourism (2)• Handicrafts• Traitionnal festivals: Rose Festival, Sacred

Music Festival, Weedings Festival, etc)• Museums• Gastronomy• Recently Morocco has encouraged the

restoration of the “ryads” traditionnal guest houses with gorgeous architecture and design

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Rural Tourism• Morocco has natural assets regarding this

kind of tourism: diversity of scenarios: From the north of the country, mountain chains to the Sahara in the south

• Morocco has been developing this niche, which include: climbing, hiking, skiing

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Sport tourism• In Morocco visitors can enjoy a

large number of water sports: surfing, wind surfing, yachting fishig, etc

• Other kind of sports are developed in Morocco: golf (20 golf courses, and many others are projected in the 2010 Tourism Vision), tennis, horse-riding,etc

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4-2010 Tourism Vision in Morocco (1)

• The project has been launched in 2001

• Main objectives: to welcome 10 million tourist by 2010

Outline of the Project- Improving the infrastructures:Triplicate the number of hotel rooms from 80,000 to 240,000

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-Six major new coastal resorts to be developed

-1,000 km of new roads to be constructed

-600,000 new jobs to be created

- Improving the professional qualification and the training of the staff: 75,000 young Moroccan will undergo formal training in the hospitality sector

2010 Tourism Vision in Morocco (2)

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5-Importance of Russia to Moroccan tourism

• Tourism agreement• Opening of the representation of the

Moroccan National Tourist Office in Moscow

• Opening of the direct flight Moscow – Casablanca

• Moroccan strategy towards Russian market

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Thank you for your kind attention