Many Moroccan families have chosen this year to celebrate Eid al-Adha in Marrakech, a popular destination for foreign tourists and Moroccans living abroad (MRE) at the start of the summer season. The hotels and tourist accommodation establishments in the ocher city are full during this Eid al-Adha period.
“Reservations increased by 9% in May compared to last year, while room nights increased by 14%. As for the Eid al-Adha holiday, all tourist infrastructures such as hotel clubs are 100% full, and some hotels were unable to respond to reservation requests due to their range of activities adapted to this holiday religious,” explains to Hespress Mohsen Chafii, regional delegate of the Ministry of Tourism for the Marrakech-Safi region.
Read: Eid al-Adha: rush of Moroccans towards Marrakech
“The occupancy rate increased from 72% in May 2023 to 78% during the same month this year, an increase of 6 points. As for the first five months of 2024, the number of visitors to tourist establishments increased by 6%, and overnight stays by 8%, going from 1,218,800 in January 2023 to 1,288,000 in January 2024,” added Chafii, specifying that the number of nights also increased by 8%, going from 3,687,384 between January and May 2023 to 3,984,992 during the same period of the year 2024.
This rush to Marrakech is due to “changes in the habits of Moroccans, in particular wealthy families, who try to spend this holiday in a joyful atmosphere without having to endure the efforts of sheep slaughter and domestic chores”, affirms tourism expert Zoubir Bouhout, adding that the coincidence this year of Eid al-Adha with the end of the national and regional baccalaureate exams, also “contributed to the influx of Moroccans towards the hotel units of the capital of the Marrakech-Safi region…”.
