Cuadernos de Turismo, nº 27, (2011); pp. 1091-1093 Universidad de Murcia ISSN: 1139-7861 FROM HOTEL ACCOMMODATION TO RESIDENTIAL TOURISM IN MOROCCO. BETWEEN REAL ESTATE BUSINESS AND SOCIO-SPATIAL IMAGE REMAKING Carmen Gil de Arriba Universidad de Cantabria
[email protected] This article aims to analyse the recent evolution and impacts of tourism in Morocco. In the context of financial globalization, tourism has become a major sector of activity in this country. Simultaneously with the expansion of receiving tourism, multinational companies are growing in numbers. These processes have economic, social and territorial effects. It is in this manner that many new tourist resorts have been created, particularly in coastal areas. In addition, urban and architectural heritage are attractive for tourists who are interested in the cultural background. Nevertheless, tourism is the object of ambiguous and opposite interpretations: it can be beneficial for some or harmful for others, to the point of being measured as a form of neo-colonialism: tourists activity shows an economic and cultural domination adding to the colonial heritage and the current uneven development. 1. INTRODUCTION: THE GENERAL CONTEXT OF TOURISM IN MOROCCO Between 2008 and 2009, a period of general recession in western countries, about 95000 new jobs were created in Morocco, principally in services and construction sectors and located in urban areas. These numbers could be considered as the indication of an apparent socio-economical change. Going back in the time, from the 80s and more particularly from the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), signed in Marrakech in 1994, Morocco has added to the list of international agreements and treaties in favour of trade liberalisation.