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Trendy Marrakech

In a 2006 TripAdvisor survey, Morocco appeared twice in the ‘top ten hot world destinations for 2007’ with Marrakech at number five and Fez at number ten. Marrakech, a city that is perpetually cool, is at the heart of this heightened interest in Morocco as a trendy destination. The exotic culture and ancient cityscape that attracted first-time-round hippies in the 1960s still attracts modern-day hippies today, as well as tourists tempted over by low-cost air fares.

City experiences

Morocco’s other big cities offer their own unique flavours for visitors. Agadir has 9km of golden sands lined with hotels and is therefore perfect for a beach holiday; facing Gibraltar is Tangier, the gateway to Morocco with its bustling seaport; modern Casablanca is modelled on Marseilles and feels reassuringly European; whilst Fez is a remarkably intact Mediaeval city bursting with culture and dating back to 790 BC.

Golfers’ paradise

Golf was first introduced to Morocco at the beginning of the 20th century and has since become a national passion with the total number of golf courses at around 30 and more to come as new residential projects come online. The late King Hassan II was passionate about golf and played to a high standard. A lot of courses begin with the word ‘Royal’ as testament to King Hassan’s work in promoting the sport.

Full calendar of events

Morocco has an impressive calendar of internationally-known events to draw the crowds at various points throughout the year. The Rallye du Maroc Classic (an annual event open to cars built between 1930 and 1980), Marathon des Sables (the Sahara Marathon, the toughest footrace on earth, 243km of endurance every year), the annual Fez World Music Festival, Tangier Jazz Festival and Marrakech Film Festivals are amongst the most notable.

Vision for the future

King Mohammed’s number one priority is to increase tourism. Vision 2010, unveiled in 2001, sets out an ambitious strategy to trigger extensive growth of the tourist sector. Morocco aims for 10 million tourists per year by 2010 (4.4 million arrived in 2001 and 5.8 million in 2005) and for the tourism sector to form 20% of the GDP by 2010. To meet these targets, $10 billion worth of investment will be ploughed into the tourism industry, building new resorts, infrastructure, 160,000 new hotel beds and leisure and catering facilities, the majority of which are destined for the coast.

Related items

Documents and Reports

	Morocco property investment report (386Kb)
	Morocco country guide (954Kb)
	Morocco property buying guide (828Kb)
Documents and Reports

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