Global Arab Network | Spanish tourism group to open several hotels in Morocco

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Spanish tourism group to open several hotels in Morocco

Global Arab Network - - George Haddad

Tuesday, 04 May 2010 20:57

Spanish hotel group "AC Hotels" decided to open several hotels in Morocco's major cities, Spanish business newspaper "Cinco-Dias" reported.

The group signed an agreement with the Moroccan group Maghreb Petroleum (Petrom), which is specialized in the distribution of petroleum products.

Under the agreement, Petrom will handle the construction of the facilities, while the Spanish Group will handle the management, "Cinco-Dias.com" said.

With this agreement, the Group AC Hotels, which is also present in Italy and Portugal, made its first entry into Morocco. The Spanish group opened four new hotels last year, compared to17 in 2008.

"In 2010, things have started much better than in 2009, which was a catastrophic year for the hotel industry”, head of AC Hotels Antonio Catalan told CincoDias.

AC Hotels expects to turn a turnover of 230 million euros this year, a 15% increase on 2009, the same source added.

The Spanish group, which has 91 operational hotels, focuses its activities in Spain where it owns 79 hotels.

Worth mentioning that tourist receipts in 2007 totalled US$7,55 billion. Tourism is the second largest foreign exchange earner in Morocco, after the phosphate industry. The Moroccan government is heavily investing in tourism development. A tourism strategy called Vision 2010 was developed after the accession of King Mohammed VI in 1999.

The government has targeted that Morocco will have 10 million visitors by end 2010, with the hope that tourism will then have risen to 20% of GDP. A large government sponsored marketing campaigns to attract tourists advertised Morocco as a cheap and exotic, yet safe, place for European tourists.

Morocco's relatively high amount of tourists has been aided by its location, tourist attractions, and relatively low price. Cruise ships visit the ports of Casablanca and Tangier. Morocco is close to Europe and attracts visitors to its beaches. Because of its proximity to Spain, tourists in southern Spain's coastal areas take one- to three-day trips to Morocco.

Tourism in Morocco is well developed, with a strong tourist industry focused on the country's coast, culture, and history.

Morocco has been one of the most stable countries in North Africa, which has allowed tourism to develop. The Moroccan government created a Ministry of Tourism in 1985.

Global Arab Network

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