North African Tourism Slows: Morocco Pulls Ahead as Egypt and Tunisia Stagnate

After three years of record tourism performance, North Africa’s tourism sector is seeing a sharp slowdown in growth. In the first eight months of 2026, the three leading tourist destinations in Africa, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia, recorded 34 million arrivals, compared with 33.5 million during the same period last year, representing growth of just 1.61%.

During the first eight months of last year, arrivals had increased by 15% compared with the same period in 2024. In other words, the growth rate in tourist arrivals has fallen tenfold.

However, the three countries have not fared equally. From January 1 to August 31, 2026, Morocco, Africa’s leading tourist destination for the past two years, continued to outperform its regional peers. It was the only country in the region to post growth compared with the same period last year, although the pace slowed considerably, with arrivals up 4.5%. Egypt and Tunisia reported stagnant figures, or even slight declines.

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What explains the slowdown in growth, and even the stagnation seen across the region? Several factors may account for it. First, global tourism has slowed after several years of strong growth in the post-Covid period, when the travel market expanded rapidly.

Global tourism growth stood at 0.4% in the first half of 2026, according to the UN Tourism Barometer. This situation has affected North Africa after the exceptional growth rates recorded in the post-Covid period.

Another factor is the impact of the Middle East war involving Iran, the United States and Israel, which has particularly affected global tourism and countries in the region. Morocco has shown greater resilience, while Egypt, because of its proximity to the Middle East, has been affected.

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In addition, the war in the Middle East and the surge in jet fuel prices have pushed up airfares, particularly for long-haul flights, making travel more expensive and discouraging many travelers.

The war and its inflationary effects have also hit the purchasing power of potential travelers, some of whom have cut back on non-essential spending, including travel and leisure.

Finally, in Tunisia, power outages and water shortages during the summer discouraged tourists.

As a result, all countries have been affected, although some have shown greater resilience than others. Morocco is one such case, continuing to outperform the global average by a wide margin.

Morocco: 14.1 Million Tourists by End-August

By the end of August 2026, Morocco had welcomed 14.1 million tourists, up 4.5% from the same period last year, or around 608,000 additional visitors. During the same period last year, arrivals had risen by 14%, with 2.4 million more visitors. Although growth is far lower than last year, Morocco’s performance remains notable compared with developments in the global and regional tourism sectors.

Better still, Morocco welcomed more than two million tourists in August alone for the first time, up 3% from August 2025, confirming strong visitor numbers during the summer season.

“The Moroccan tourism sector is built on solid foundations. The 2023-2026 roadmap has shown that targeted investment in key areas delivers results, both in terms of visitor numbers and socioeconomic impact,” said Fatim-Zahra Ammor, Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social and Solidarity Economy.

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With this figure, Morocco is widening its lead over Egypt, which recorded 12.8 million visitors by the end of August. The Kingdom is consolidating its position as the continent’s leading tourist destination.

Several factors are behind this performance, including the diversity of Morocco’s tourism offering, its geographical proximity to major source markets, which limits the impact of higher jet fuel costs, and strong air connectivity. Moroccan airports handled 22.30 million passengers, up 8.80%, during the first seven months of the current year, ...

Tourism revenues stood at $79 billion by the end of July 2026, up 13.4% year on year. By the end of July, average tourist spending stood at 6,810 dirhams, or around $720. The increase in revenues is due to the rise in arrivals, as well as higher hotel rates.

Looking ahead, after reaching 19.8 million tourists in 2025, Morocco is expected to reach 21 million visitors in 2026. However, the target of 22 million tourists announced at the beginning of the year now appears out of reach given the pace of growth in arrivals during the second half of the year.

Tunisia: Slight Decline in Arrivals

Despite its proximity to the European market, Tunisia has failed to attract more tourists. The destination even recorded a very slight 0.2% decline in arrivals by the end of August 2026, with 7.1 million tourists, according to data from Tunisia’s National Tourism Office (ONTT).

While the country had recorded 2.6% growth in arrivals in July compared with the same period last year, August was weaker. In addition to the global environment, Tunisia faced power outages that negatively affected the tourism sector during the summer, a crucial period for the industry.

“For 2026, in terms of arrivals, the situation is relatively stable, with growth ranging between 3% and 4% since the beginning of the year,” said Mohamed Mehdi Haloui, director general of the ONTT. However, Algerian tourists were the main factor behind Tunisia’s resilience, with arrivals from Algeria up 8.4% between January and August 10, 2026.

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In addition, Tunisia continues to face an air connectivity problem. The only route considered satisfactory is the connection between Tunisia and France, thanks in particular to the presence of several airlines: TunisAir, Air France, Nouvelair and Transavia. All other markets suffer from a lack of connectivity. This has prevented Tunisia from fully benefiting from the effects of the Middle East crisis despite its better value for money.

Air connectivity is not the only obstacle to the development of Tunisian tourism. The main challenge remains the sector’s heavy dependence on beach tourism. Diversification must be one of the priorities for authorities and industry professionals, through the development of cultural tourism, golf, desert tourism and other niches. These segments could help make the destination more attractive, move it away from its near-total reliance on beach tourism and increase tourism revenues.

Tourism revenues stood at 5.13 billion dinars by the end of August 2026, up 5.96%.

Looking ahead, the target of 12 million tourists for the whole of 2026 now appears out of reach after the disappointing performance recorded during the summer season.

Egypt: 12.8 Million Visitors by Mid-September

Among North African countries, Egypt has probably been the hardest hit by the war in the Middle East because of its proximity to the conflict zone, which affects all Gulf countries. The country started the year with a sharp 43.5% increase in arrivals, reaching 5.6 million tourists by the end of March.

However, the war in the Middle East eventually caught up with Egypt’s tourism sector, which recorded weaker performance in the following months. The country was unable to rely on tourists from Gulf countries because flights were suspended for several weeks.

According to Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy, Egypt welcomed around 12.8 million tourists between January and the end of August 2026, almost the same level as during the same period last year despite a highly unfavorable environment.

This resilience is the result of the diversification of Egypt’s tourism offering, which combines archaeological and cultural sites, Red Sea beach resorts and Sharm El-Sheikh, Nile cruises and, more recently, the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which opened in November 2025.

Since then, the GEM has welcomed 3.5 million visitors by the end of August 2026 and could attract up to 5 million during its first year of operation. The new attraction is helping increase the number of overnight stays and the length of visitors’ stays.

One bright spot in terms of arrivals has been the 17% increase in French tourists between January and August 2026. Despite the Middle East crisis, the destination has also benefited from improved air connectivity, with an increase in charter flights serving Egypt’s tourist destinations.

Read also : Morocco draws 9.4 million visitors in first half as tourism receipts hit MAD 64.9 billion

As for tourism revenues, data available through the end of June 2026 showed $8 billion in revenue generated by eight million tourists, equivalent to average spending of $890 per visitor.

Looking ahead, the authorities are maintaining their forecast of 20 million tourists for 2026. However, that figure will depend on developments in geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. In the coming years, Egypt plans to diversify its tourism offering by developing MICE tourism, which stands for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions, in an effort to attract more events.

Tourist Arrivals and Tourism Revenues in Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia