Morocco seeks to raise $10bn for tourism: minister

Morocco is seeking to raise about $10 billion for an investment fund to finance tourism projects, Tourism Minister Yassir Zenagui said.

Preliminary agreements have been signed with backers from the Gulf Cooperation Council and will be finalised “shortly,” Zenagui said in an interview yesterday at the Hotel Investment Conference Africa in Casablanca. The funds will be raised through bond sales and from investors such as sovereign wealth funds, he said.

Morocco’s economy, set to grow between 4.5 per cent and 5.5 per cent this year according to the North African country’s central bank, relies on tourism for almost eight per cent of economic output. A bomb attack in Marrakesh in April left 17 people dead and deterred some visitors.

“We had a 10 per cent drop the following month and then everything went back to normal,” said Tarik Senhaji, the chairman of the Moroccan Agency for Tourism Development. “I think tourists know that Morocco remains safe.”

Senhaji said tourism revenue is up about six per cent this year, less than initial predictions, and may reach Dh60bn ($7.3bn) this year.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, a group of six Arabian Gulf monarchies led by Saudi Arabia that has resisted the pro- democracy movements sweeping the Middle East this year, has invited Morocco to become a member.