Che ranking highlights global disparities in winter sports infrastructure, particularly alpine skiing. Regarding Morocco, the country occupies 48th position with a total of 5 resorts and 10 ski lifts. This makes Morocco the country in Africa best equipped with ski infrastructure.
“Morocco is an emerging destination for winter sports, although its practice remains marginal. With only five ski resorts, only one of which has more than five ski lifts, reception capacity is limited, but these resorts attract a local clientele and an increasing number of foreign tourists, particularly Europeans, Oukaimeden, located 70 kilometers from Marrakech, is the best-known resort, offering a small selection of slopes suitable for beginners and intermediate skiers. winter in Morocco is also stimulated by the development of mountain tourism and the accessibility of these resorts, especially for Moroccans living in Europe. However, the country remains well below the major ski nations in terms of infrastructure and attendance. and most Moroccans interested in skiing turn to more developed destinations abroad, such as France or Spain,” explains Alexandre Desoutter, editor-in-chief of HelloSafe Morocco.
The top countries in this ranking such as France, the United States and Austria, each with more than 2,900 ski lifts, demonstrate a strong tradition in winter sports and a massive investment in mountain tourism. , HelloSafe reports. And to specify that the Alpine countries dominate, confirming the importance of this region as the world heart of board sports. For their part, Japan (5th) and China (12th) stand out in Asia. On the other hand, countries like Australia or South Korea, despite limited geographical conditions, appear thanks to an infrastructure concentrated in specific areas, explains the same source. The study also demonstrates that the significant gap between the leaders and the bottom countries in the top 20 shows that winter sports remain a regionalized sector, favored by geography and the history of local tourism.
If giants like France, the United States and China dominate in the number of stations and ski lifts, countries such as Turkey (60 stations), Greece (22 stations), and Iran (22 stations ) reveal the existence of winter sports niches in regions with varied climates, notes HelloSafe.
It should be noted that HelloSafe was based on data from recognized sources in the field of winter sports, such as the International Ski Federation, the International Association of Ski Areas, as well as the International report on snow & mountain tourism.
