RABAT, Jan 11, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Morocco welcomed more than 17 million tourists last year, authorities announced Thursday, breaking its yearly arrivals record and logging a 20-percent increase from 2023.

The North African kingdom has invested heavily in recent years in modernising its airports, public transport and hospitality industry in hope of boosting its tourism sector.

The tourism ministry, in a statement carried by official news agency MAP, said that the number of visitors in 2024 was higher by about three million than in the previous year.

A little more than half of the tourists were foreigners and the rest Moroccans living abroad, the statement said, with both figures going up compared to 2023.

"These figures reflect our government's targeted investments in this vital economic sector and the unwavering efforts of tourism professionals," Tourism Minister Fatim-Zahra Ammor said.

Tourism currently accounts for around seven percent of Morocco's GDP, with some 827,000 people directly employed in the sector, the ministry told AFP.

Revenues stood at more than $10 billion at the end of November, marking a seven percent increase on the same period of 2023, the ministry said.

In recent years, Morocco has invested in improving hotels and commercial services, and expanded air routes and partnerships with low-cost airlines such as Ireland-based Ryanair.

Last year, 120 new international air routes were introduced, bringing the total to 705, the ministry said. Morocco is set to host football's African Cup of Nations later this year, and the World Cup in 2030.