According to Triviago, a world renowned travel platform, hotel searches to Marrakesh using triviago.co.uk decreased by 46 per cent following the media sensation that was prompted by the Moroccan authorities jailing a 69-year-old British gay for “homosexual acts” in Marrakech.
While hotel searches dropped by 46%, travel interest to Morocco as a whole dropped by 31 per cent.
Triviago said that the searches “were for a hotel stay during the upcoming month” and that the data is based on “UK platform visits from 75 million global monthly users.”
Denise Bartlett, UK Public Relations at Triviago, said the following: “With campaigners on Morocco’s official tourism Facebook page deeming the country unsafe for British tourists, it seems their plan to boycott the country was initially successful. 46 per cent is a significant decrease rarely seen in popular tourist destinations. For example, following the military coup in Thailand in May 2014, hotel searches decreased by just 26 per cent.
“Although the British tourist in question has now been released, it will be interesting to see if tourists continue to avoid the destination. Morocco is a year-round popular choice among UK holidaymakers, while Agadir is a popular winter sun destination. Morocco’s tourism economy would no doubt suffer from a sharp decline in British tourists.”
The Moroccan Times.
