British tourists' number to Morocco could double

The number of British tourists visiting Morocco every year could double, said minister of tourism Hassan Sebbar.

Talking to MAP in a side-meeting to the "World Travel Market" in London, he said 600,000 british tourists visit North Africa and Morocco, the northern part of the kingdom mainly, will recover a larger part of this market after years of decline.

British tour operators will come back, he said stressing the fact that groups such as Accor and Meridien now operating in Morocco will help attract more operators, British and others, to Moroccan destinations and products.

In 1998, 105,067 British citizens visited Morocco, an increase of 40.1 %, while the first nine months of this year already total 109.577 tourists.

Sebbar also underscored action by his department to promote the sector and said his targets were 2.7 million visitors by 2000 and 4 millions by 2005.