The tourism industry in Marrakech

Abstract

[EN] This TFG aims at describing and analyzing the tourism sector in the imperial city of Marrakech. I have chosen this city as it is the crown jewel, the most visited and attractive city in Morocco since its foundation. Due to its weight on the regional and national economy, the tourism industry is a key component of the GDP and the local livelihood as it provides significant jobs and opportunities for the local communities. Nowadays it is a significant sector for the economy of the city, highly dynamic due to its multiplicative effect on the income and elevated need for manpower which leads to high employment in this sector. Tourism in the city is perceived as stationary as there’s an important increase in the touristic demand during the months of June until early October with a peak in July and August, and a slightly lower demand peak during the winter break for the Christmas and Easter holidays. It is important to contextualize the information, so I will do a small summary of the evolution of tourism in Marrakech over the last decade. It is advisable to make this comparison since, in recent years, the growth in the number of arrivals and overnight stays has been very high compared to the previous years. Furthermore, in order to facilitate the understanding of the paper, I will do a SWOT analysis and use Porter’s 5 Forces to complement this analysis and obtain a better understanding of the tourism industry in Marrakech. Throughout this analysis, I will be making recommendations for action to be made to improve Marrakech’s tourism industry as well as the tourist destination. Finally, a series of conclusions about the study carried out will be presented and I will indicate further opportunities as food for thought in order to maintain the upward trend in the number of tourists arriving in the city and to enhance the city’s strengths as well as counter its weaknesses.