ABBAS AZZOUZI General Manager of the National Tourist Office

n Morocco, getting lost on the way to a souk (traditional market) is part of the fun. It can be easy to do if you do not read Arabic. But finding the Djemaa el Fna, the main square in Marrakech, is in a category all of its own. The square is irregularly shaped and lies at one end of the medina, or old city. As night falls, only the whirring sound of hundreds of electric generators will offer clues. Invariably, a side alley leads into the floodlit square. Once there, visitors are overtaken by sensory inputs: street musicians, snake charmers, storytellers, water sellers and hundreds of food stalls. The experience is time-transporting.

Abbas Azzouzi, the General Manager of Morocco’s National Tourist Office (ONMT according to its French acronym) has outlined the broad guidelines for Morocco’s tourism promotion strategy over the past years. Since 2003, the ONMT has adopted a more focused strategy to reach the target of ten million visitors by 2010.

On the one hand, it has been decided to concentrate on Morocco’s key markets, namely France, the U.K., Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium, while at the same time setting up an adapted strategy for emerging markets like Russia, the Middle East, Scandinavian countries and the U.S. Thanks to this focused strategy, the number of tourists who have visited Morocco in 2006 reached 6.5 million, a 37 percent increase from 2003 (4.6 million). Hence, the tourism sector is the country's primary source of foreign currency.

On the other hand, the ONMT has launched a series of quantitative studies to elaborate a strategy adapted to each market segment, tailored to the specific needs, behaviors and distribution networks of each country it targets. “The segmentation is based on market research," explains Mr. Azzouzi. "We targeted the segments that appeared most profitable to us, either in terms of purchasing power or according to the specific demand of customers in each of those markets."

In line with this strategy, the ONMT adopted a product-oriented approach to highlight destinations like Fez, Marrakech and Agadir, or type of tourism like cultural tourism, which is considered to be a differentiating asset for the country.

From left to right: a view of the world-famous Djemaa el Fna square in Marrakech, and a ‘ksar’ (traditional earthen buildings surrounded by high walls) in southern Morocco.

As for Morocco’s tourism projects for the next few years, a plan is underway to create six new tourist stations, called the “Plan Azur”, which stipulates the creation of 130,000 new beds by 2010. The new tourist stations include Saidia (Oujda), Lixus (Larache), Mazagan (El Jadida), Mogador (Essaouira), Taghazout (Agadir) and Plage Blanche (Guelmim). This will give Morocco the opportunity to target new segments of the markets and complete its cultural offer.

For Morocco, tourism is synonymous with enriching experience, as well as exchange between the visitors and the population. This is why the U.S. is one of the targets for the coming years.

More direct flights from New York to Casablanca are in the works. “In the U.S., we are focusing on the East Coast by targeting what we call sophisticated travelers,” Mr. Azzouzi points out. “If we reach 200,000 Americans per year over the next four to five years, we will be satisfied.”

By making Morocco one of the world’s top 30 destinations, the ONMT has managed to turn time travel into a fully-fledged industry, one that boasts supply chains and foreign receipts. Mr. Azzouzi adds, “There are few destinations in the world where people can find as much cultural authenticity. Morocco has it. All you need is to take the time to discover it.”