Ouarzazate City in Morocco
Ouarzazate City : Ouarzazate City in Morocco has recorded the best national performance for overnight stays in the first seven months of 2017, with a 41 percent increase in the number of tourists compared to the same period in 2016, according to the provincial tourism office.
The month of July saw major growth, with a 77 percent increase in arrivals and a 75 percent overnight stays compared to 2016.
The total number of tourists who visited the region rose from 109,474 for the first seven months of 2016 to 154,677 for the same period of 2017, thus increasing by 41 percent, Morocco World News reported.
According to figures from the provincial tourism office of Ouarzazate, the increase is the result of growth in the number of arrivals of residents, which reached 34,199 during this period and 27,021 in 2016, an increase of 27 percent.
The number of non-resident tourists increased more than the number of residents, rising by 43 percent, from 82,453 in 2016 to 120,478 in 2017.
This destination received 18,103 French visitors during the first seven months of 2017 versus 14,731 for the same period in 2016, an increase of 23 percent, followed by Spanish tourists, whose number rose from 8,835 in 2016 to 14,731 in 2017, an increase of 67 percent.
The best performance was observed for the Asian tourists. The number of Japanese tourists increased from 5,214 in 2016 to 8,803 in 2017, an increase of 69 percent, while the Chinese market recorded a significant increase in 12,070 visitors.
Tourism accommodation establishments in the region recorded that Ouarzazate ranked first regarding growth at the national level (+41 percent).
The number of overnight stays increased from 1696,108 to 233,945 respectively for the first seven of 2016 and 2017. The increase in overnight stays was higher for non-residents, rising from 117,788 in 2016 to 180,664 in 2017, an increase of 53 percent, while the increase in overnight stays by residents was 10 percent, as the number of domestic tourists has increased from 48,320 in 2016 to 53,281 in 2017.
Atlas Studios in Ouarzazate is one of the world’s largest film studios. Many well-known historical movies and television shows were shot in Ouarzazate, including “Game of Thrones” and “Gladiator.”
—SM/IINA