A total of 3.48 million tourists have visited Morocco from January through July 2005, say a rise of 6% compared to the same period in 2004. According to statistics released by the Moroccan tourism Ministry, Frenchmen, Spaniards and Britons come on top of the list with increases of 17% (802,870), 14% (189,565) and 18% (102,295) respectively.

Moroccan expatriates, who were included in these figureds, amounted to 1,717,156 in the same period (-1% compared to 2004). According to MAP, the number of tourists from all destinations has posted an increase, with the exception of Portugal (-11%).

In July alone, 1,273,561 tourists visited the kingdom, including 954,426 expatriates. The number of American tourists went up in July by 26%, Swiss tourists by 19%, Danish tourists by 81% and Swedish tourists by 50%.

© 2005 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)