Marrakech remains the most popular destination for fully independent travel (FIT) to Morocco, followed by Casablanca and Tangier.
140 buyers visit Marrakech this week (28-31 January 2014) as global travel distributor GTA holds its third annual sourcing conference for Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA) in Morocco. As ever, it will give attendees a brief flavour of the destination and the accommodation and experiences it offers.
James Phillips, GTA’s Vice President for Sourcing EMEA, says: “As more and more people want to travel to and around Morocco, travel agents rely on GTA’s sourcing teams to find the accommodation, services, excursions and experiences they most want to enjoy. Taking our conference to a different part of the world every year can help a destination raise its profile on a global stage.”
This year, the conference is being hosted by the Hotel Pullman Marrakech Palmeraie. Marrakech remains the most popular destination for fully independent travel (FIT) to Morocco, followed by Casablanca and Tangier. However, Rabat enjoyed the most significant growth, up 54% last year.
The United Kingdom remains Morocco’s biggest source market based on the number of room nights booked with GTA in 2013, followed by France – thanks to a shared language and cultural heritage. Room nights booked by Libyan travellers more than doubled in 2013, making it Morocco’s third most popular source of visitors.
Outside the Middle East & North Africa region, Italy and Spain complete the top five most important source markets. The number of room nights booked by Chinese travellers quadrupled last year, while Swedish bookings doubled. However, greatest growth came from Swiss travellers, who booked five times as many room nights.
Adds James: “GTA has been helping the world’s hospitality and tourism industry reach customers in all parts of the world for nearly four decades. Our reputation for providing relevant and unrivalled global distribution, our financial stability and expertise helps businesses capture opportunities presented by growth markets, while gaining share in established ones.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
