Editing Morocco (section)

=== Tourism ===
{{main|Tourism in Morocco}}
[[File:Jamaa el Fna (7346063132).jpg|thumb|The [[Jemaa el-Fnaa]] in Marrakech]]
Tourism is one of the most important sectors in the Moroccan economy.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MyGjpyNAur0C&pg=PA367|title=Geography of Travel & Tourism|last1=Hudman|first1=Lloyd E.|last2=Jackson|first2=Richard H.|date=2003|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=0766832562|language=en}}</ref> It is a strong tourist industry focused on the country's coast, culture, and history. In 2022, tourism in Morocco had surpassed the average number of visitors in the 2010s, while setting an all-time high in 2023 with 14.5 million international tourist arrivals and MAD 104.7 billion in receipts.<ref name=":14" /> In 2010, the government launched its Vision 2020, which plans to make Morocco one of the top 20 tourist destinations in the world and to double the annual number of international arrivals to 20&nbsp;million by 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.travelnewsdigest.in/?p=16905|title=Morocco sets the goal of attracting 20 million tourists by 2020|work=India's leading B2B travel news website|access-date=26 July 2014|archive-date=27 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727215100/http://www.travelnewsdigest.in/?p=16905|url-status=dead}}</ref> In November 2024, Morocco had nearly 16 million tourists visiting that contributed to 7% of its GDP.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-14 |title=Morocco set to overtake Egypt as Africa's most visited country |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20241214-morocco-set-to-overtake-egypt-as-africa-s-most-visited-country |access-date=2025-01-26 |website=RFI |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":14" />

[[File:Bab Bou Jeloud-Fez-3.jpg|thumb|View of the medina (old city) of [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]]]]
Tourism is increasingly focused on Morocco's culture, such as its ancient cities. The modern tourist industry capitalises on Morocco's ancient and Islamic sites and on its landscape and cultural history. 60% of Morocco's tourists visit for its culture and heritage. Agadir is a major coastal resort and has a third of all Moroccan bed nights.<ref name="tourism">{{cite book|title=Geography of Travel & Tourism|last=Hudman|first=Lloyd E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MyGjpyNAur0C|year=2002|publisher=Thomson Delmar Learning|isbn=0-7668-3256-2|pages=367}}</ref> It is a base for tours to the Atlas Mountains.<ref name="tourism"/> Other resorts in northern Morocco are also very popular.<ref name=Eur>{{cite book |title=The Middle East and North Africa 2003 |year=2002 |publisher=Europa Publications, Routledge|isbn=978-1-85743-132-2 |page=863}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Home|url=http://morocco-berbertrips.com/|access-date=5 August 2020|website=Morocco berber trips|language=en-US|archive-date=11 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811215125/http://morocco-berbertrips.com/|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Large government sponsored marketing campaigns to attract tourists advertised Morocco as an inexpensive and exotic, yet safe, place for tourists. Most of the visitors to Morocco continue to be European, with French nationals making up almost 20% of all visitors. Most Europeans visit between April and August.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dashboards |url=https://www.tourisme.gov.ma/en/tourism-figures/dashboards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329175651/https://www.tourisme.gov.ma/en/tourism-figures/dashboards |archive-date=29 March 2020 |access-date=19 April 2020 |website=Kingdom of Morocco, Ministry of Tourism}}</ref> Casablanca is the major cruise port in Morocco, and has a developed market for tourists in Morocco. The Majorelle botanical garden in Marrakech is a popular tourist attraction. It was bought by the fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé in 1980.<ref>{{cite news |title=Yves Saint Laurent's Ashes Scattered In Marrakesh |url=https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-morocco-saintlaurent.html |work=The New York Times |date=11 June 2008 |access-date=14 June 2008 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> {{As of|2006}}, activity and adventure tourism in the Atlas and Rif Mountains are the fastest growth area in Moroccan tourism. These locations have walking and trekking opportunities from late March to mid-November. The government is investing in trekking circuits. They are also developing desert tourism in competition with [[Tunisia]].<ref name="Shackley">{{cite book |title=Atlas of Travel And Tourism Development |last=Shackley |first=Myra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWOw_U8WpZUC |year=2006 |publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann |isbn=978-0-7506-6348-9 |pages=43–44}}</ref>