‘Magic' Morocco is 'fit for a king'!

Published 04th Oct 2007

Interest in Morocco from visitors to TheMoveChannel.com has rocketed over the last month, with the stunning Mediterranean kingdom jumping up 10 places and crashing into the top ten in our ‘Top of the Props’ chart…

Morocco rivals Egypt for its ancient history and culture, yet its accessibility and exceptional tax breaks for UK investors along with plans to increase tourists to 10 million by 2010 have pushed it ahead, as property values have soared.

The country’s internal infrastructure is also a key factor, with new motorway and rail links and low cost airlines now operating to a number of destinations, including Marrakech and Fez.

King Mohammed’s ‘touristic’ laws
The support of Morocco’s King Mohammed has had a hugely important to Morocco in recent months. The King has ensured Morocco remains attractive to investors with an ambitious strategy to boost tourist arrivals to 10 million by 2010, thus creating 600,000 new jobs and forming 20% of the nation’s GDP.

The mega coastal resorts under the moniker ‘Plan Azur’ are the glue holding his vision together. These six facility-packed holiday spots will spearhead the growth and the Government has implemented certain ‘touristic’ laws which guarantee that failure is not an option. Mediterrania Saïdia, home to Le Jardin de Fleur, is the flagship Plan Azur resort, heavily in the throes of construction and the only one of the six destined for the coveted Mediterranean coastline.

The 11 Le Jardin de Fleur resorts-within-a-resort, ranging from spacious apartments to grandiose villas, provide a textbook example of how King Mohammed’s touristic laws safeguard his country’s future and in turn, each individual purchaser’s investment.

Adam Cornwell, MD of GEM Estates, comments: “King Mohammed’s a very astute individual, with a PhD in Law and the established tourist hotspot of Spain 14km across the Straits to learn from, he has maintained a certain property ownership structure for success.

“He knows that empty lock-up-and-leave resorts contribute nothing to the economy and create little in the way of full time employment; they must be bustling all year round”.

As King Mohammed’s goal is to attract tourists, and boost employment, Plan Azur ‘touristic’ properties have to be delivered fully fitted and furnished to European standards and be maintained immaculately. They also have to have access to an array of facilities to attract those lucrative high net worth customers.

The end result will make King Mohammed proud. Upon completion Mediterrania Saïdia will be a year-round bustling resort creating permanent jobs for local people and happy management companies making healthy profits to be passed on to happy home owners.

A favoured overseas hotspot
Established property markets like Marrakech and Casablanca are amongst the country’s strongest investment areas; however, developers are now looking across the country to emerging hotspots to gain impressive returns.

Investor focus has turned to the city of Agadir and the towns of Taghazout and Tifnit, with buyers attempting to capitalise on the tourist potential available. In addition, Soualem and Dar Bouazza close to the booming city of Casablanca area are set to perform well.

Rob Shaw, Marketing and Operations Manager for Morocco Properties says: “Marrakech is the most significant market in Morocco and in the last few years has become renowned as a favoured overseas property hotspot.

“As its popularity continues to rise at a meteoric pace, the general infrastructure is also being improved, paving the way for premier developments and amenities that will help towards the government’s 2010 vision.

Mr Shaw continued: “Marrakech is a prosperous centre of business, tourism and culture and is providing a new breed of overseas investor’s with superb opportunities to prosper, as property prices rise at unprecedented rates.

“It is my personal opinion that Morocco, particularly Marrakech, will become a long-term favourite with those from the UK. Its property prices, climate, quality of developments and culture mean that Morocco is competing with the likes of Brazil and Turkey as an overseas property hotspot.

“However, it is its location to the UK which will be the deciding factor with many new investors choosing Morocco because of its ease of access and flight time from the UK.”

Other risers and fallers
Cyprus, Portugal and Bulgaria continue to rise steadily up the top 10, with Bulgaria (2nd place) hot on the heels of France (1st place) and threatening to usurp the perennial top dogs in the near future. Canada shot up 8 places to 17th place, whilst Brazil, Panama and Malta continued to attract a lot of interest from TheMoveChannel visitors.
Countries which fared less well this month include India (Down 4 places to 12th), Thailand (down 3 to 14th) and Poland (down 3 to 19th ).

Source: ' Move Channel Ltd '

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