Aviation liberalization as a means to promote international tourism: The EU–Morocco case

Abstract

This paper analyzes the extent to which the liberalization of the airline market between the EU and Morocco has led to significant changes in both air services and leisure travel, thus contributing to the Moroccan tourist master plan to attract 10 million tourists. Liberalization has led to a large expansion of regular air services in terms of the number of seats and routes supplied but also to a decrease in charter business. The low-cost airlines are the main players in this move. International leisure mobility to Morocco has also strongly increased, although the relation with air transport liberalization is less clear. This increase involves both Moroccans living abroad and foreign tourists. Air transport has grown its market share despite the significant decrease in the number of tour operator packages sold. The increase is particularly large among Moroccan citizens living abroad, suggesting new habits with regard to long-distance mobility.