The tourism sector in NRD Africa continues on its momentum in 2025, made by a strong increase in international arrivals. Morocco, which has risen for the first time in 2024 in the rank of first tourist destination in Africa, retains its advance on Egypt and Tunisia. This dynamic is part of a favorable global context, but also benefits from effective strategies and major events planned in the coming months.
The North Africa region continues its recovery vigorously. According to data published for the first three months of the year, tourist flows to Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia have significantly progressed, exceeding the performance of the same period in 2024. If the resumption of world tourism plays an undeniable role, it is not enough to explain this boom alone. Targeted policies, promotion campaigns, as well as the holding of cultural and sports events are all factors that support activity in the three countries.
According to the UN Tourism estimates, the prospects for 2025 remain positive, with expected global growth of 3 to 5% of international tourist arrivals, stimulated by the appeasement of geopolitical tensions and the slowdown in inflation. In this promising context, North Africa seems particularly well positioned to capture a significant part of this growth.
Morocco is distinguished by remarkable performance from the start of the year. Between January and March 2025, the kingdom hosted 4 million visitors, an increase of 22% compared to the same period in 2024. This represents around 717,000 additional tourists. This figure confirms the momentum started last year, when the country had crossed a historic threshold of 17.4 million visitors, becoming the first tourist destination on the continent.
This result is all the more significant since it is part of a period generally marked by a reduced activity, especially due to Ramadan. However, the month of March, which coincided this year with this period this year, recorded almost 1.4 million arrivals alone (+17%).
-Among the engines of this growth are the increase in the number of air services, in particular via low cost companies, as well as the consolidation of traditional issuing markets such as France, Spain and the United Kingdom. The strong presence of the Moroccan diaspora in arrivals (1.9 million against 2.1 million foreign tourists) also highlights the key role of Moroccans residing abroad in the current dynamics.
The diversity of the national offer allows Morocco today to attract visitors throughout the year, as evidenced by the record recorded in January with more than 1.26 million tourists (+27%). This trend should be strengthened in the second quarter, carried by cultural festivals, international promotion campaigns and the start of the summer vacation in June.
In this context, several professionals believe that a new threshold could be crossed by the end of the year: that of the 20 million visitors. If this forecast is confirmed, it would constitute a new symbolic mile for the kingdom.
However, this dynamic of arrivals is not accompanied by equivalent growth in revenues. According to the Exchange Office, tourist income in foreign currency in the first quarter amount to 24.6 billion dirhams, up only 2.4% over a year. This discrepancy, deemed concerned with certain operators, is explained in particular by the rise in power of low -cost tourism and by the increased presence of little spending visitors. The Ramadan effect, during which the diaspora favors family stays, was also able to influence tourist consumption.
The analysis of hotel nights for the period will make it possible to refine this evaluation and to understand the origin of this decoupling. If the trend should continue, some call for adjustments to prevent the sector from slipping towards a model based on unprofitable mass tourism.
In parallel, the strong growth of arrivals requires reflection on reception capacities. By the 2030 World Cup, Morocco provides for the opening of 500 to 700 hotel establishments, which should add some 100,000 beds to the national offer. These projects should make it possible to absorb the expected increase in demand, while strengthening the attractiveness of the different regions of the kingdom.
