Morocco’s E-Visa Pays Off One Year after Launch
(AWP) - Morocco began to reap the fruits of its electronic visa system for the citizens of a number of countries as the foreign ministry announced it has released 150,000 e-visas within a year since the new system was first launched.
In July 2022, Morocco announced approving an e-visa for certain nationalities, including Israel, India, Jordan and Thailand, which helped luring tourists from new markets and promote the kingdom as a standout tourist destination.
Ashfar, an Indian tourist, admired the easy and quick procedures, which encouraged him to travel from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to the Moroccan capital Rabat smoothly.
“I am from India. I live in Dubai. I applied for a visa with the Moroccan embassy on its electronic website. It was so easy. I obtained the visa so quickly. I only sent the required documents online. That was so smooth,” he said.
The e-visa extends to 180 days from the date of issuance. It allows tourists to stay for up to one month maximum.
The Moroccan foreign ministry announced that 96.6% of the e-visas have been issued for tourists since the beginning of the new system while 3.4% were issued for businessmen.
The step helped promote the tourism sector to overcome the negative impact of the novel coronavirus and market Morocco as a destination for both tourism and business.
David, an American tourist who came from Atlanta, Georgia, the United States, said he was glad with his first trip to Morocco, where he visited several cities in the North African kingdom.
“This is the first time for me to visit Morocco. I already visited Marrakech and the Sahara with all their beautiful temperature, camels and sands. We enjoyed camping deep in the desert, where we watched the sunrise and sunset,” he said.
“It was a wonderful experience. I also visited Fez. Now I am in Rabat, a clean city and the people are nice. I will visit Casablanca and then back to Marrakech and from there I will fly back to the United States,” David noted.
Israelis were the top beneficiaries from Morocco’s e-visa system. They made up to 55% of the foreign visitors to Morocco, while Indians 10%, Egyptians 4.41% and Jordanians 2.7%, according to the Moroccan foreign ministry data.