RABAT, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The director general of the Moroccan tourism office (ONMT) Abderrafie Zouiten said here on Tuesday that the office expects tourist arrivals to grow by 6 percent in 2017.
"Despite the difficult international economic and security context, we seek to attract over 600,000 additional tourists compared with last year," Zouiten said during a press conference.
While Morocco aims to secure the share in its traditional European markets, it hopes to attract more tourists from China and Russia, the official stressed.
To back up this trend, he said ONMT has launched a comprehensive campaign to promote Morocco's destination with a strong focus on innovative and original digital content.
He added that the country has set up numerous new air routes linking hot tourist cities with a number of countries around the globe.
Tourism is one of the main economic drivers in Morocco as it employs over 500,000 people, nearly 5 percent of the country's total jobs, and makes up 6.7 percent of Morocco's GDP.