Morocco's tourism revenues soared 16%

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Sunday 30 Aug 2015 - 16:47 Makkah mean time-15-11-1436 (File image) Rabat, (IINA) - After recording a drop in Morocco's tourism revenues in the first quarter of 2015, there has been a rebound, with revenues up by 16 percent last month, according to the latest figures from the ministry of tourism. Despite a fall of 1.1 percent in the first five months of the year, the number of tourists who visited Morocco increased by 15 percent in July, Morocco World News reported citing the ministry's report. The report noted that nearly 6.025 million foreigners visited Morocco during the the first seven months of the year, marking a slight increase of 1.5 percent in the same period last year. The Ministry pointed out that the highest number of arrivals recorded in July was from Germany, the United Kingdom, and North America. In addition, the ministry noted that the above average numbers of German (19.8 percent increase), British (6.2 percent increase), and North American tourists (10.5 percent increase) reduced the severity of the downturn in tourism earlier in the year. In July, the city of Agadir received 83,308 tourists of different nationalities while “domestic tourists topped the list of arrivals, with a total of 32,057 tourists,” according to a report of the Regional Tourism Council of Souss-Massa-Draa. In its efforts to boost tourism, the government is trying to attract more visitors from different countries, namely Russia, China, and Japan. As the second largest sector of Morocco’s economy, tourism accounts for around eight percent of GDP, employing some 500,000 people. SM/IINA