RABAT, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Morocco received a record-breaking 14.5 million tourists in 2023, an increase of 34 percent compared with 2022, the kingdom's Ministry of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social and Solidarity Economy said Thursday.
"This new record for tourist arrivals significantly exceeds the initial target set for 2023, in line with the government road map to develop tourism, and the results surpassed expectations," the ministry said in a statement.
Despite the complex global geopolitical context, the past December was marked by unprecedented tourist arrivals, of almost 1.3 million, it added.
On March 17, 2023, Morocco adopted a 580-million-U.S. dollar plan to boost the tourism sector in an effort to attract 17.5 million tourists by 2026.
Morocco's total tourism revenues amounted to 9.8 billion dollars from January to November in 2023, an increase of 15.8 percent year on year, according to data released earlier by the Office des Changes, the Moroccan foreign exchange regulator. ■