TOURISM SECTOR

IN MOROCCO

Directed by: Mr. Slimane HRI

Mr. Ziyad OUCHAOUF
Mr. Reda LAAFAR
Mr. Fouad EL-AJRAOUI

Supervised by: Mr. BENCHEKROUN

 01 INTRODUCTION:

SUMMARY general information on the tourism sector in Morocco .

The measures taken by the Moroccan government

02 to develop the tourism sector in morocco:
 Plan Azur ;
 COVID-19’s impacts on tourism in Morocco;
 Morocco Announces New Program to Revive Tourism Sector.

The incentives given to foreign companies

03 investing in morocco
 Strong Points and Weak Points of investing in morocco
 Investment incentive program
 Tax measures

04 CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
 Plan Azur

The "Plan Azur", is a large-scale project

initiated by King Mohammed VI, is meant to
provide for creating six coastal resorts for
holiday-home owners and tourists (five on the
Atlantic coast and one on the Mediterranean).
The plan also includes other large-scale
development projects such as upgrading
regional airports to attract budget airlines, and
building new train and road links. Through
these efforts the country achieved an 11%
percent rise in tourism in the first five months
of 2008 compared with the same period the
previous year. Morocco, which is close to
Europe, has a mix of culture and the exotic
that makes it popular with Europeans buying
holiday homes.
COVID-19’s impacts on tourism in Morocco
Morocco’s tourism sector was one of
the hardest hit by the COVID-19 On May 5, the tourism minister
pandemic, with tourism sector revealed that the crisis closed 87% of
indicators seeing a sharp decline in hotels in Morocco;
the first half of 2020.

The number of tourists fell by 45%

between January and April
compared to the same period in
The Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, has 2019, and the number of overnight
assured that Morocco is prioritizing the revival of stays fell by approximately 43%.
tourism with a set of strategic measures. The minister
also urged sectoral stakeholders such as hotel
representatives to hone in on domestic tourism.
Relaunch of the tourism sector

The Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch chaired, in

Rabat, a working meeting on the revival of the tourism
sector and the resumption of the tourist season. An op-
portunity for the Minister of Tourism, Crafts, Social and
Solidarity Economy, to present her vision for reviving
tourist activity as soon as possible.

The Head of Government encouraged, on this occasion,

all the players concerned to develop human resources in
order to support the revival of the tourism sector, calling
on the various players in the sector to work for the upgrad-
ing of hotel structures with a view to improve the quality of
services offered to tourists.
The incentives given to foreign companies
investing in morocco:
Strong Points and Weak Points of investing in morocco:
 A legal framework and assistance measures
very favorable to investors.
 A strategic location, between Europe and
sub-Saharan Africa.
 Robust infrastructure.
 A young and relatively well-trained population;
 Political stability.

Morocco's strengths for FDI are: Morocco’s weaknesses for FDI are:

 A relatively small internal market.

 A country still highly dependent on agriculture.
 Administrative burdens slowing down, among
other things, the start of business activities.
 Significant social disparities by region (rural vs.
urban) and a high poverty rate.
 High unemployment rate and low productivity.
 Investment incentive program
Many efforts have been made to make Morocco an attractive destination for
investment, by implementing a number of strategies and reforms, in particu-
lar:

 Ambitious sectoral strategies aimed at preparing an attractive offer and supporting

sectors with high benefit, in particular the agricultural sector, tourism, industry, infor-
mation and communication technologies, renewable energies, trade and distribution,
and innovation.

 Numerous reforms, particularly at the legislative, regulatory and institutional levels, to

increase the country's competitiveness and attract FDI.

 Massive efforts in road, air, port and industrial infrastructure that currently make Mo-
rocco a Multi-Connected nation, promoting speed of travel.

 Morocco's commitment to the encouragement and promotion of foreign investment, in

particular through the launch of ambitious sectoral plans, targeting in particular the
sectors Tourism (VISION 2020), Agriculture (GREEN MOROCCO PLAN), Industry
(INDUSTRIAL ACCELERATION PLAN), Renewable Energies (2030 ENERGY
STRATEGY), Trade (RAWAJ PLAN), Logistics (LOGISTICS COMPETITIVENESS
STRATEGY), Maritime Fisheries (HALIEUTIS), and Ports (PORT STRATEGY BY
2030).
 Investment incentive program

 Free trade agreements that make the Kingdom an important destination to meet the
needs of the national market. Morocco has developed a network of international
agreements in this area comprising 63 bilateral agreements on the promotion and
protection of investments (APPI), 3 regional agreements and a Free Trade Agreement
with an investment component.

 For more than a decade, Morocco has launched large-scale projects aimed at raising
its infrastructure to international standards.
 Tax measures:
• Companies that undertake to make an investment of an
amount equal to or greater than 100 million dirhams benefit
from the exemption from customs duties applicable to capital
goods, materials and tools necessary for the realization of their
project in the 36 months following the date of signature of the
agreement.

• Any new company benefits from a corporate tax exemption

for 5 years for all exports of goods or services. After this
period of 5 years, the tax rate increases to 17.50%.

• At the level of exchange regulations, the dirham is in the

process of free convertibility, and foreign investments benefit
from a convertibility regime to transfer the income produced
by these investments and the proceeds from the liquidation
or sale of their investments.

• Morocco has signed double taxation agreements with

several countries. These agreements establish the list of
taxes and revenues concerned, the rules of reciprocal
administrative assistance and the principle of non-
discrimination.
CONCLUSION
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