Number of tourists visiting morocco drop by 13.7% in first half of 2002

The number of foreign tourists in Morocco decreased from 1.2 million in first half of 2001 to 1.03 million in the same period of 2002, scoring a 13.7% decrease, Direction of the Treasury and Foreign Finances said.

The decrease was mostly noted in the number of tourists from Europe (-12.2%), North America (-42.7%), the Maghreb (-27.7%) and some Asian and African countries.

The sharpest falls concerns Scandinavia (-54.2%), Austria (-35%), Japan (-34.6%), Italy (-24.6%), Tunisia (-19.5%), Great Britain (-18.3%), and Germany (-15.9%).

The number of tourists from Mauritania increased by 29.6%, from Algeria by 6.7% and from Saudi Arabia by 5%.

The Direction of General Economic Policy (DPEG) said the number of nights spent in hotel rooms decreased by 20.9% end of May, imputing the drop to the effects of the 9/11 events that impacted on tourism worldwide and especially in North Africa and the Middle East.