Morocco wants more French tourists to travel beyond its best-known cities. The Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT) presented a new strategy in Paris on 14 September to attract more visitors from French cities outside Paris and send more tourists to different parts of the country. Achraf Fayda, director general of the ONMT, met French media ahead of the IFTM Top Resa tourism trade show.
France is the biggest foreign tourism market for Morocco. More than 5.7 million French visitors travelled to the country in 2025, making up about 29% of all international arrivals.
The ONMT wants to use this strong demand to promote destinations beyond Marrakech, Agadir, Casablanca, Fez and Tangier.
The plan will focus on regional experiences and give French visitors more reasons to return and explore other parts of the country.
“Our challenge is to be where French travelers are. The potential is not limited to Paris and major metropolitan areas. Developing routes from provincial cities creates new opportunities for Morocco and all of its regions.”
Fayda said the ONMT is working with airlines, travel agencies and tour operators to increase direct flights from French regional airports.
The plan includes cities such as Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Bordeaux and Lille.
The government is also trying to spread tourism income to more regions.
“The 2023–2026 roadmap has demonstrated that investing in a well-targeted manner in key levers yields results in terms of both tourist flows and socio-economic impact. Morocco still has significant room for further growth, and the next phase must focus on spreading the benefits of this growth to more regions and tourism professionals,” Tourism Minister Fatim-Zahra Ammor said.
Tourism remains an important part of the economy. Travel receipts reached MAD 53.76bn in the first five months of 2026, up 14.6% from a year earlier.
The government is targeting 17.5 million tourists by the end of 2026 and 22 million by 2030.
The French market has also been a focus of recent talks between tourism businesses. The French Union of Tour Operators held its annual forum in Tamuda Bay, bringing together about 140 French tourism executives to discuss travel programmes for the winter season.
Morocco is also expanding airports in Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech and Agadir to handle more passengers as the country prepares for major sporting events, including the 2030 Fifa World Cup.
“Morocco positions itself as a safe tourism haven in the Mediterranean and North Africa, offering proximity, a diversity of experiences, and operational reliability—key factors sought by French tour operators when designing their travel programs.”
