Aviation liberalization as a means to promote international tourism: lessons from the EU-Morocco market

This paper analyzes the extent to which the liberalization of the airline market between the EU and Morocco has led to significant changes in both air services and leisure travel, thus contributing to the Moroccan tourist master plan to attract 10 million tourists. Liberalization has led to a large expansion of regular air services in terms of the number of seats and routes supplied but also to a decrease in charter business. The low-cost airlines are the main player in this move. International leisure mobilities to Morocco have also strongly increased, although the relation with air transport liberalization is less clearly established. The increase concerns both Moroccans living abroad and foreign tourists. Air transport has increased its market share despite the significant decrease in the number of tour operator packages sold. The increase is particularly large among Moroccan citizens living abroad, suggesting new habits with regard to long-distance mobilities

Aviation liberalisation as a means of promoting international tourism: Comparing Morocco and Tunisia

The dynamics, in terms of air services and international leisure mobility (both of tourism and visits to friends and relatives [VFRs]), between the European Union (EU) and both Morocco and Tunisia, were compared. Indeed, the EU-Morocco market became liberalized after 2006. Significant dynamics then occurred on both the airline and travel sides. However, it is difficult to assess the extent to which aviation liberalization has been the cause of all of these changes. This suggests a comparison with the more regulated and more protected EU-Tunisia market. The results will be useful in light of negotiations to promote open-skies agreements

La libéralisation du transport aérien pour promouvoir le tourisme international : une comparaison du Maroc et de la Tunisie

La libéralisation du transport aérien pour promouvoir le tourisme international : une comparaison du Maroc et de la Tunisi

Assessing the impacts of aviation liberalisation on tourism: some methodological considerations derived from the Moroccan and Tunisian cases

At a time when the liberalisation of air transport is increasingly being promoted as a means to induce the growth of the tourism business, it is striking that there is little evidence to suggest that such liberalisation has indeed led to a growth in tourism. Furthermore, the evidence is usually restricted to the impacts of sole low-cost airlines on tourist destinations newly served by such airlines. In contrast to various ideological or naïve statements, this paper shows that assessing the relationship between liberalised air markets and trends in tourism is challenging. On the transport side, aviation liberalisation is rarely considered as a dimension that can be measured accurately; similar protected markets are not considered for comparison; and trends in charter flights are neglected. On the tourist side, broad definitions of so-called tourists are usually considered and include immigrants visiting their home country; nights spent are neglected, despite a possible trend in declining length of stay; and substitution between places is usually disregarded, as are the long-term effects

L'idée d'un 'ensemble méditerranéen' à l'épreuve de l'offre aérienne voyageurs

L'analyse de l'offre aérienne des pays du pourtour méditerranéen témoigne largement des configurations géographiques prises dans leurs composantes économiques, politiques et démographiques. En effet, ceux-ci ne forment pas un bloc homogène et intégré sur base d'une égalité de développement. Les flux aériens rendent bien compte de l'intégration différenciée des pays aux régions sous-continentales et des inégalités de développement économique, des antagonismes et des conflits de la région méditerranéenn