Tourism in Marrakech: No respite for Ramadan
The city will not be idle during Ramadan, the month of April being one of the best months of the year. First of all, the hotels in the city of Marrakech have taken advantage of the Moroccan school holidays to attract residential customers who, depending on their means and budgets, opt either for holiday clubs, 5-star hotels or even Airbnb-type accommodation.
These contingents of national holidaymakers who leave on March 19 will very quickly be replaced by European families, who also go out on school holidays from April 2. Despite the European crisis, families want to travel and reservations are numerous even if these holidays coincide with Ramadan. Thus, from April 2, the Spanish Semana Santa will start and theoretically family groups will take over and spend their holidays in Marrakech until April 8. They should be followed by French tourists and families who will be on Easter vacation. Note that reservations and sales related to the Easter holidays were concluded several months ago. The fact remains that last minute clients are still to be accounted for. They sometimes represent 20% of arrivals in Marrakech. There was a time when hoteliers and restaurateurs took time off during Ramadan. They took advantage of the respite offered during this sacred month to renovate their establishments or carry out work to extend their units. Nothing will happen this year. Tourism in the ocher city no longer experiences seasonality, especially among tour operators. Moreover, “the success of Marrakech, throughout the year of post-covid recovery has certainly had a positive ripple effect on the month of Ramadan”, comments a local hotelier. The niche of Jewish religious tourism will also be in turmoil since the month of April coincides with the Passover celebrations, and Marrakech is positioned very well in this segment. Most hotels have designed special programs to accommodate religious Jews. These prospects for the month of April are not surprising. Since the start of 2023, indicators have all been green, whether in terms of arrivals, overnight stays or occupancy rate. In two months, the city received more than 430,000 tourists in classified tourist establishments (Three-to-five-star tourism establishments) which achieved 1.25 million overnight stays. Hotels display an average occupancy rate. Going back to 2019, the reference year, the total nights spent in tourist three-to-five-star tourism establishments in February recorded an increase of 8% compared to February 2019 and 12% in terms of arrivals. The occupancy rate for February 2023 changed by 3 points compared to February 2019.
Badra BERRISSOULE
