Morocco tops the region as one of the most popular places to visit - still

Morocco remains a popular tourist destination for millions of Europeans. Last year, the country welcomed a record 14.5 million tourists. It expects to attract 17.5 million tourists in 2026 and 26 million by 2030, when Morocco will co-host the World Cup together with Spain and Portugal. These then are the facts and when potential tourists look for the most tourist friendly of countries to visit in the Maghreb, Morocco tends to be a favourite destination, not least because it is a safe country, far away from the horrendous conflicts raging in the Middle East and not wracked by the sort of conflict that is wrecking a nearer neighbour, Libya. 

So, imagine the surprise when a UK television channel carried this shock headline in recent days for British tourists; ‘Britons have been issued a travel warning for Morocco, a popular holiday destination in North Africa due to wider tensions. Holiday makers in Morocco should be aware of the conflict affecting Lebanon’.  

GB News, or to give it its full title, ‘Great Britain news, which carried this report, is a relatively new media network that has come under some fairly heavy criticism for the nature of both its reporting and commentating on British politics in particular, given the regulatory requirement that media channels must not be overtly partisan. To add insult to injury, the warning about travel to Morocco on the TV channel’s website managed to misspell the name of the country. 

The article went on to say that ‘Holidaymakers fly to Morocco to experience the incredible Sahara, breath-taking mountains, sandy beaches, vibrant markets and delectable cuisine’. And yet, it went on; ‘The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has told Britons: ‘Ongoing hostilities between Israel and Lebanon could escalate quickly and pose risks for the wider region. Monitor this travel advice and other media as the situation is changing fast.’

In fact, closer examination of the advice given to tourists considering Morocco as a destination by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office reveals the following advice: ‘The Foreign Office does not currently advise against travelling to any part of Morocco’. So, it appears that GB News have simply derived their sensationalist report by taking the general advice for the Middle East region and applying it to every country in the wider North African region, no matter how far away and far removed it is from the conflict. There is in truth as much risk from the wars now raging in Lebanon and Gaza to tourists flying to the UK as there is for tourists flying to Morocco. 

Fortunately, GB News has a small viewership, and yet the damage that can be done by twisting the facts to suit an algorithm and exploit the fear factor cannot be under-estimated. Is Morocco a safe country for Britons to visit? The UK Foreign Office says that it is.

*Mark Seddon is a former Speechwriter to UN Secretary-General Ban ki moon & former Adviser to the Office of the President of the UN General Assembly