The internal & external impacts of tourism on Morocco

It is said that tourism industry in Morocco is well developed, and it represents an essential part of the GDP of the country. However, some Moroccan tourism officials say that this sector is flourishing regardless of what is going on nationally or internationaly, but I believe that Morocco’s tourism suffers a lot due to many negative internal and external factors.

On the one hand, no one can deny the majic and the beauty of Morocco, or can say that there are no tourists interested in travelling to Morocco, however, accodring to some visitors’ remarks, they said that Morocco is a fascinating destination in terms of its beautiful landscapes and nice climate as well as its rich and diverse culture. But, there were many common things that those visitors complained about, especially the lack of infrastructure including roads, hospitals, and so on. This is particularly seen in the rural areas which attract a huge number of tourists. Personally, I definitely agree with those visitors, because, in fact, our country hosts many foreign tourists annually, and when we say foreign visitors , many things come to our minds, one of which is the hard currency, which means generating a high revenue for our country’s economy. But, the problem is that where does this money go instead of being invested in building or enlarging roads, building more hospitals and schools. As I see it, this money is maybe stolen by the officials or is perhaps put in nonsense projects or things. Such these problems prevent the tourism sector from developing and contributing to the economic development of our local communities.

On the other hand, apart from these internal issues, there are other external problems which affect Morocco’s tourism industry, for instance, the terrorism represents a major problem which causes a steep drop in the number of tourists. For example, according to a review was done by Morocco’s tourism Ministry, it showed that the total number of visitors to the country before the terrorist attacks which took place in 2003 and 2007 was higher than it is now. However, the government should do its uttmost to prevent anya ct of terrorism. Furthermore, another major external factor that is worth mentioning is the recent financial crisis which not only affected Morocco’s tourism sector, but also other countries, and I think this has caused problems to many sectors of the economy. So, this crisis has reduced Morocco’s tourism revenues from 57 billion dirhams in 2008, which represents approximitly 20% of its GNP to nearly 10% of its GNP in 2010. However, despite all of these factors, the Moroccan tourism industry has the potential to avoid the negative effects of all these problems and to develop, and this can be achieved by modernizing all the infrastructure and improving the local communties.