Tourism · 2000–2025
The Long Rise
One number. One line. Twenty-five years. Watch a country become a destination in real time.
In the year 2000, Morocco welcomed 4.28 million overnight tourists. In 2025, that number crossed 20 million — the AFCON surge pushing past the 17.4 million record set just the year before. Between those two points: a country that survived 9/11, the Casablanca bombings, the global financial crisis, the Arab Spring, COVID-19, and turned each recovery into a higher floor. The 2022 FIFA World Cup — where the Atlas Lions reached the semifinal — didn't just generate headlines. It generated 10.87 million visitors, a 290% rebound from COVID. By 2024, Morocco was Africa's most-visited country, ahead of Egypt. The line below draws itself. Scroll down and watch.
4.28M
2000 arrivals
20M
2025 projected
×4.7
growth in 25 years
−78%
2020 COVID cliff
Tourist Arrivals (Millions)
Overnight arrivals, 2000–2025. Hover for detail. The line draws itself as you scroll.
Year by Year
Milestones
2004
Vision 2010
King Mohammed VI launches a national tourism plan targeting 10M visitors by 2010. New airports, resorts, and direct flights. The plan falls just short — 9.29M in 2010 — but transforms the infrastructure.
2013
10 Million
Morocco crosses the 10M milestone for the first time. The 5M-to-10M journey took 9 years. Marrakech alone accounts for 2M+ visitors. Budget airlines (Ryanair, easyJet) have made Morocco a weekend destination from Europe.
2019
Pre-Pandemic Peak
12.93M arrivals. Revenue: $8.19B (6.4% of GDP). Morocco is the 2nd most-visited country in Africa behind Egypt. 28.7M overnights. The machine is running.
2020
The Cliff
COVID-19 drops arrivals from 12.93M to 2.78M in a single year — a 78% collapse. Revenue halves. Borders close for months. The tourism workforce (2M jobs) is devastated. It is the worst year since records began.
2022
World Cup Bounce
The Atlas Lions reach the FIFA World Cup semifinal in Qatar — the first African or Arab team to do so. Global searches for "Morocco" spike 400%. Arrivals rebound to 10.87M. The "Moroccan moment" begins.
2024–25
Africa's #1
17.4M in 2024 — Africa's most-visited country, overtaking Egypt. ~20M projected for 2025 with AFCON (+600K visitors, €1.5B direct revenue). Target: 26M by 2030 World Cup. The line keeps rising.
Reading Notes
The Higher Floor
Every crisis produced a recovery that exceeded the previous peak. 9/11 dropped arrivals to 4.38M; by 2007 they had nearly doubled to 7.41M. The financial crisis barely registered — 2009 was actually higher than 2008. COVID collapsed the number to 2.78M; three years later it was 14.52M. The line doesn't just recover. It recovers higher.
The Football Effect
The Atlas Lions' World Cup run in December 2022 was the most effective tourism campaign in Moroccan history — and it cost the government nothing. Global awareness of Morocco spiked overnight. The 2022 rebound (10.87M from 3.72M) was driven partly by pent-up COVID demand, but the World Cup turned curiosity into bookings. AFCON 2025 extends the effect: 600,000 tournament-specific visitors, €1.5B in direct revenue.
The 2030 Question
Morocco's target: 26 million tourists by 2030, when it co-hosts the FIFA World Cup with Spain and Portugal. That requires 30% growth from the 2025 base. Revenue target: MAD 120 billion (~$12B). The infrastructure is being built: new airports, high-speed rail to Marrakech, 9 stadiums. The line has room to keep rising. Whether the country can absorb 26 million visitors without losing what made it a destination is the question the line cannot answer.
4.28 million in 2000. 20 million in 2025. The line doesn't care about bombings or pandemics or financial crises — it absorbs them and keeps climbing. Each shock produces a higher floor. Each recovery overshoots the previous peak. This is not resilience. This is compound interest applied to a country's reputation. The question is no longer whether people will come. It is whether the place they come to will still be the place that made them want to come.
Sources
Arrivals 2000–2023: WorldData.info, sourced from UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and World Bank. 2024 (17.4M): Morocco Ministry of Tourism via Morocco World News (Jan 2025), UN Tourism, Arab Weekly. 2025 (~20M): Ministry of Tourism (18M by Nov 2025, per Travel and Tour World, Dec 2025); AFCON projections from Brandiconimage.com citing Minister Mezzour. Revenue data (USD billions): WorldData.info / UNWTO. GDP contribution (~7%): Ministry of Tourism. Vision 2010 context: Wikipedia “Tourism in Morocco.” World Cup 2022 effect: editorial analysis of timing and search data. AFCON 2025 economic impact (€1.5B direct, 600K visitors, €2.3B invested): Brandiconimage.com, Weetracker, Tassga.com, citing Minister Mezzour and Ministry of Tourism. 2030 target (26M): Ministry of Tourism, Sogecapital Gestion projections. 2025 arrival figure is a projection based on 18M through November plus AFCON December surge.
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