Morocco’s Strategic Roadmap to Accelerate Growth in the Indian Tourism Market
Key Highlights:
- Ambitious Visitor Target: The Moroccan National Tourism Office (MNTO), in collaboration with Indian travel industry bodies including the Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), has set an ambitious target of attracting 75,000 Indian visitors, leveraging stronger industry partnerships and focused market development initiatives.
- Expanded Market Outreach: Morocco is deepening its engagement across India’s major travel markets, including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, while aggressively expanding into high-growth Tier II and Tier III cities such as Pune, Lucknow, Chandigarh, and Jaipur to tap into India’s rapidly diversifying outbound travel base.
- Focus on High-Value Travel Segments: The strategy prioritises premium tourism verticals, including MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions), destination weddings, luxury holidays, and film tourism, supported through targeted B2B roadshows, industry interactions, and specialised promotional campaigns.
- Strengthening Travel Trade Engagement: The Moroccan tourism authorities are increasing direct engagement with Indian travel professionals through immersive destination experiences, strategic collaborations, and industry education initiatives to enhance product knowledge and create stronger destination advocacy.
- Digital Destination Training: A dedicated e-learning platform is being developed to equip Indian travel advisors and tour operators with deeper insights into Morocco’s diverse tourism offerings, helping improve destination awareness and sales capabilities.
- Leveraging the 2030 FIFA World Cup Opportunity: As a co-host of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, Morocco is positioning itself to benefit from enhanced global visibility, upgraded tourism infrastructure, and increased international interest, creating new opportunities to attract Indian travellers.
- Enhanced Connectivity and Experiences: The strategy focuses on showcasing Morocco’s diverse tourism portfolio, including its historic cities, luxury riads, cultural heritage, premium hospitality, scenic landscapes, and advanced transport infrastructure such as the Al Boraq high-speed rail network.
- Strong Growth Momentum: Morocco’s tourism growth strategy is supported by exceptional market performance, with Indian arrivals increasing by 224 per cent compared with pre-pandemic levels. The simplified e-visa process, stronger trade engagement, and rising demand for luxury and experiential travel continue to drive momentum.
- Future Growth Drivers: Improved air connectivity, customised hospitality services, Indian culinary options, seamless ground experiences, and closer collaboration between Indian and Moroccan tourism stakeholders are expected to play a critical role in achieving the next phase of growth.
Enhanced air connectivity, customised hospitality experiences, stronger destination awareness, and deeper collaboration with the travel trade emerge as key pillars for Morocco’s next phase of growth among Indian travellers.
As Morocco continues to strengthen its position as an emerging long-haul destination for Indian travellers, tourism leaders from India and Morocco have identified a comprehensive roadmap to unlock the destination’s next stage of growth. Improving direct connectivity, adapting hospitality offerings to Indian preferences, expanding luxury and experiential tourism, and strengthening industry partnerships are expected to play a pivotal role in accelerating visitor arrivals from India.
During a high-level interaction between Indian travel trade leaders and Moroccan tourism and hospitality stakeholders, discussions centred on understanding the evolving preferences of the Indian outbound traveller and creating strategies to convert growing interest into sustained tourism growth.
India has emerged as one of the world’s most dynamic outbound tourism markets, with Indian travellers undertaking nearly 29 million international trips annually and outbound expenditure expected to reach around USD 62 billion by 2030. The modern Indian traveller is increasingly seeking immersive cultural experiences, personalised itineraries, premium hospitality, and authentic destination experiences.
Recognising this immense opportunity, Morocco has intensified its engagement with the Indian market through strategic partnerships with travel companies, destination education programmes, trade initiatives, and targeted promotional campaigns.
Jamal Kilito, Director of the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) in India, highlighted that Morocco has witnessed exceptional momentum from the Indian market, with approximately 54,000 Indian visitors recorded by the end of 2025 — representing a growth of 224 per cent compared with pre-pandemic levels and a 31 per cent increase over 2024.
According to Kilito, the introduction of Morocco’s streamlined e-visa system has significantly improved accessibility for Indian travellers and has opened opportunities across leisure travel, MICE, destination weddings, celebrations, and premium group travel.
Industry representatives observed that Indian outbound travel is becoming increasingly diverse, with strong demand emerging not only from metropolitan centres but also from Tier II and Tier III cities. Travellers are moving beyond conventional sightseeing and are increasingly looking for meaningful stories, local cultural immersion, luxury experiences, wellness, gastronomy, and unique lifestyle offerings.
The changing travel patterns have also expanded interest beyond Morocco’s iconic destinations such as Marrakech, Casablanca, and Rabat, with travellers showing greater curiosity towards lesser-explored regions that offer distinctive cultural and experiential value.
The destination’s ability to cater to multiple segments — including luxury holidays, honeymoons, family vacations, women’s groups, corporate incentives, MICE programmes, and large-scale destination weddings — has positioned Morocco as an increasingly attractive proposition for the Indian market.
Digital marketing, social media storytelling, and influencer-led campaigns have also played an important role in enhancing Morocco’s visibility among Indian travellers, helping transform the destination from a niche long-haul option into a mainstream consideration for affluent travellers seeking new global experiences.
While the growth trajectory remains highly encouraging, travel experts emphasised that the introduction of direct air connectivity between India and Morocco would be a transformative step in unlocking the destination’s full potential. Improved accessibility, combined with stronger airline partnerships and seamless travel experiences, is expected to significantly boost tourist arrivals.
Hospitality stakeholders also highlighted the importance of adapting services to Indian cultural preferences, including greater availability of Indian cuisine, flexible dining options, personalised service standards, and closer coordination between Indian travel partners and Moroccan destination management companies to ensure expectations are aligned.
The Indian diaspora, particularly from markets such as the United Kingdom and the United States, also represents a significant opportunity for Morocco’s luxury tourism and destination wedding sectors, further strengthening the destination’s appeal among global Indian travellers.
With sustained promotional efforts, simplified visa procedures, growing trade partnerships, and increasing demand for unique long-haul experiences, Morocco is well positioned to become one of the most promising international destinations for Indian travellers. The next phase of growth, however, will be driven by enhanced aviation links, culturally tailored experiences, and continued collaboration between stakeholders across the tourism ecosystem.
