A total of 4.2 million tourists visited Morocco during the first half of 2011, a rise of 6.3 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to the Tourism Ministry.

The 2011 Flagship Business and Investment Summit is to take place on the 4th and 5th of July 2011 at the Atlantic Palace Resort (Agadir).

 Read this fantastic article about one of the many unbelievably exotic trips you can take while visiting or living in Morocco!

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The 10th annual Mawazine world music festival opens today in the nation's capital of Rabat, with legenary acts such as Joe Cocker and Lionel Richie headlining

Lear Corp. followed the recent pattern of massive American investment in Morocco today, when it announced the opening of another new electronics plant in Rabat, Morocco.

The plant opened with a workforce of 130, but expects to add a further 230 employees by the end of the year.

Tourism & New Residential Developments Key to Morocco’s Future Economic Growth

HM King Mohammed VI, accompanied by Prince Moulay Rachid, chaired,, the opening ceremony of the tenth National Tourism Forum in Marrakech  February 2010

The massive tourist/residential development program, Vision 2010 – of which the coastal part came to be known as “Plan Azur” –  whose aim was to bring 10 million visitors a year to Morocco by 2010 and included the building of 6 new coastal resorts, 250,000 hotel beds, including 180,000 properties located in or around the cities.

Morocco's Minister of Industry, Commerce & New Technologies is set to visit 6 American cities next week, and to meet with various US business leaders. Bilateral trade between the USA and Morocco grew to $2.6 BILLION in 2010, following the Free Trade Agreement signed in 2006.

More and more US companies are taking advantage of the growing economic opportunities thanks to the FTA with Morocco—the only African country that has an FTA with the US.

Last week, a delegation of US corporate leaders travelled to Morocco to explore the rapidly growing business and investment opportunities it has to offer across a variety of sectors. Representatives from nearly 20 US companies, including Lockheed Martin, Cisco Systems, FedEx, Raytheon, Motorola Solutions, and General Dynamics IT, met with private sector leaders and top Moroccan government officials at a time of tremendous bilateral growth between the US and Morocco: regarded by many business leasers as a key hub for accessing markets in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

A new chapter in the long and prestigious history of the Trophée Hassan II was written in 2011, when the event was played in the Moroccan city of Agadir from 31st March to 3rd April.

Two UK-based airlines have launched new flights to Morocco, in direct competition with low-cost carriers, Easyjet and Ryanair

UK travellers are now spoilt for choice when flying to Morocco, with both British Airways and BMI now offering services to and from the popular North African tourist destination.

British Airways started its new service to Marrakech from London Gatwick in March, its first to the Moroccan capital since 2008.

Boeing 737s and Airbus A319s will operate the three-times-weekly service,  from Gatwick on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, with return flights on the same evenings.

BMI also launched four new services from Heathrow to Morocco in the same.

BMI operates three weekly services to Marrakech on Fridays, Sundays and Mondays, returning the same evening, and the fourth service  is a weekly flight to Casablanca departing on Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, again returning the same evening.

Travellers to Marrakech will also benefit from a new airport bus service, linking Menara airport to the city centre for the first time.

A Kuwait-based investment firm announced on Sunday that it has acquired a minority stake in a major Moroccan real estate developer.

The North Africa Holding Company (NorAH) said it had invested in Dar Saada Company (DSC) because it sees major opportunities in the fast growing Moroccan housing market.

"Our investment team had identified the social and intermediate housing segment as fast growing, and with huge potential," Emad Anwar Al-Saleh, CEO of NorAH, said in a statement.

Bridgestone Corp. has established a sales company in Casablanca, Morocco, to serve what it sees as a “key region in which rapid economic expansion can be anticipated.”

Bridgestone cited Morocco’s growing export business in minerals and agricultural products — the result of recent free trade agreements with the European Union and the U.S. — for its optimism. Additionally, Bridgestone said, Morocco is building its infrastructure along the Mediterranean Sea coast in hopes of becoming a hub for the distribution of goods in and out of North Africa.

The Prince of Wales left Spain yesterday, and headed for Morocco for a three day state visit.

Charles and Camilla planned the trip before unrest in the region began, but Morocco has so far avoided the kind of trouble seen in other countries in the region and throughout the Arab world. Several thousand people took part in protests in Casablanca - Morocco's biggest city - yesterday, but the protests were peaceful and it was decided that the royal visit should still go ahead.

This summer, Brussels Airlines is offering, from March, new flights to and from Marrakech and Agadir. With Marrakech and Agadir, Brussels Airlines introduces two new Moroccan holiday destinations in its network. Agadir is Morocco’s most popular beach destination, with guaranteed sunshine all year round, and Marrakech is considered the most attractive city-trip destination in Morocco.

The new tourist market this opens up for the kingdom comes after determined and continued investment in the tourist and second home industries. Tourists from around the World are looking to Morocco as a potential holiday destination and investment opportunity following Morocco's display of stability compared with other countries in the region.

Russian travel agency, Niva, have hit the travel headlines throughout Europe by announcing that direct flights linking Saint Petersburg to Morocco's popular tourist destination of Agadir will be launched by the end of this month (April).

The flights are intended to meet the growing demand from Russian tourists, keen to visit Moroccan destinations. The trend was first noticed when flights were offered between Casablanca and Moscow, and the popularity surprised everyone involved, an official from Niva said.

Direct flights between Agadir and Saint Petersburg are planned from April 29^th, and will continue until the end of October 2011, the source added.

The attractiveness of Moroccan destinations has remained high despite the recent political unrest in Arab countries around the world. Morocco is regarded as being politically stable and secure, and the quality of the hotel services, its beauty and history, as well as the significant investments made in the country's infrastructure and the tourist industry in general are leading more and more peope to visit and invest here.

Morocco is to receive continued and growing business and diplomatic support from the USA, announced the U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs on Sunday. William J. Burns went on to recognise that, in Morocco, civil society organizations have grown rapidly and applauded Morocco's will to continue down the path of reform and modernization in a peaceful way.

He went on to announce a "major American trade mission" which will be coming to Morocco in the coming months.

For Italians and Russians, Morocco is one of the most popular vacation spots, say several sources this week.

Morocco has unveiled a sustainable tourism plan to embrace green issues, whilst continuing to promote the growing tourism sector and property development in the north Africn state.

Morocco have been chosen ahead of last year's World Cup hosts, South Africa, to host the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

The executive committee of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) took the decision at a meeting yesterday.

Morocco last hosted the competition in 1988.

President of the Moroccan Football Association, Ali Fassi Hihiri said he was satisfied with the way things had gone.

"It's a great day for Morocco and I am very happy," Hihiri commented.

Morocco had been in fierce competition with South Africa to host the 2010 World Cup, which South Africa won in a tight 14-10 vote in Zurich in 2004.

Established at the beginning of each year by magazine International Living, the Quality of Life Index 2011 has ranked Morocco 69th with a score of 60 points, the same as that obtained by Tunisia and South Africa.

Morocco is the top Arab country in this ranking jointly with Tunisia. It has gained 45 places over 2011.

British Airways has announced that the Marrakech, Morocco is its number 1 destination for 2011.

Morocco hopes to attract more tourists to its Mediterranean and Atlantic coastal regions. In fact, it aims to double the amount of incoming tourists by 2020.

Mediterranean resorts will no longer be the number one destination for UK holidaymakers by the end of 2010.

'I don't think we're in Kansas any more," says Sarah Jessica Parker as she strolls into some luxurious Arabian hotel wearing what appears to be a table cloth and a tea cosy. She's not in Kansas, or New York. As everyone who's seen the Sex And The City 2 trailer knows, the "city" this time is Abu Dhabi, where Carrie and her sisters take a decadent desert mini-break. Except they're not really in Abu Dhabi either, they're actually in Morocco.

A New Motorway is Under Construction to improve links to Marrakech