Morocco Is Not What You Think It Is

Azdean Elmoustaquim (00:00)
Morocco isn't recovering. It is breaking its own record every single quarter. that line sounds familiar, because you heard it in part one.

If you didn't go back and catch it after this one.

But you don't need to to follow alone today.

Welcome back Travel Advisors to Destination Morocco Podcast. I am your host, Azadin El-Mustakim. This is part two of Top 9 Morocco Questions Advisors Get Wrong and How to Get Them Right. Let's just have a little recap of our last episode in case you're jumping in fresh. Last episode or part one, we covered the number that should really convince your clients. 19.8 million visitors to Morocco in 2025. It is a record. And this year, the first quarter, it's already up 7%. We...

covered the new non-stop flight, six new non-stop flights that finally cut US clients out of European layovers.

Also we have covered the 5 client types that is easier to sell Morocco right now and we covered when to book and when to travel. If you miss any of that go back to part 1 but everything today stands on its own because today we're finishing that list. To accomplish that please help me welcome back Ted to the podcast. Welcome back Ted it's always a pleasure to have you on the podcast.

time I did this episode it was a solo episode and I couldn't even see you look at the camera the right way so there's definitely better improvement when it comes to that and I'm so grateful

Ted Cragg (01:46)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (01:47)
to have you just you know with us this episode so that

Ted Cragg (01:52)
Sure.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (01:53)
let's get into it

Ted Cragg (01:54)
Yeah, it's nice to be here. Yeah, it's it's fun to have conversation about these things. Although we did have some nice pictures last time and I know you've got some really cool video clips to share with us in this one, so we'll get to that in a few minutes too.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (02:06)
Thank you.

Ted Cragg (02:07)
But yeah, and some really interesting questions and topics here about you know, talking about Morocco, how to sell Morocco and just kind of framing things in a certain way, especially as it gets more and more popular, right? And I think people start to get a lot more of these questions.

as a result. So the first one is how do you pitch Morocco to a beach only client, the people looking for kind of resorts and beach type activities.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (02:31)
That's a really, really good question. know when it comes to Morocco, one of the biggest attractions or people go to Morocco that they want to experience is actually the desert. And there's nothing wrong with that. desert, if you have listened to our, podcasts or episodes, we always talk about July and August. It's really, really hot. It's very challenging and it can be very painful sometimes because of the heat. Now the camps in the desert, some of them do not have air conditioning because they really wanted to feel that really, really

immersive experience please do not count me in I'm not one of those people I definitely want to have air conditioning and yes the camps that we use do have air conditioning which makes a huge huge difference so when you look at Morocco the the beautiful thing about it it's actually very diverse so recommending during the summertime those you know

hot months, July, August, and sometimes even June, sometimes even September. Yes, you have a lot of options to do itinerary for the west coast part of Morocco.

You know, we can do a beach, know, you can stay for in a few days in one spot then move to the next one and so forth. We can build that itinerary for you, especially if you like, you know, water sports, surfing, know, jet skiing, all type of water sports. That's absolutely highly recommended. Then we have the north side of Morocco, which is the Mediterranean. And again, that's a completely different level of immersive experience. It just does not look and it does not really feel like Morocco, Ted.

Ted Cragg (04:04)
Mm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (04:04)
It's beyond incredible. You have to see it to believe it.

Ted Cragg (04:09)
Well, I'll pull up my map here. Let's show people where we're talking about, especially on the the west coast, the Atlantic coast.

Yeah, so here well I kind of zoomed half out a bit. I mean you can see Marrakesh, Casablanca

Azdean Elmoustaquim (04:20)
Yes.

Ted Cragg (04:21)
is up here. So let's kind of s you wanted to start from Essaouira and kind of make our way down the coast. So maybe we'll start

Azdean Elmoustaquim (04:27)
That is correct, yes.

Ted Cragg (04:28)
with that.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (04:29)
So just to, this is really good. Thank you for sharing this. For example, when you look at Marrakesh, it's right there, you can see it. And we'll drive, for example, either from Marrakesh to Essaouira Casablanca to Essaouira, doesn't matter. From Marrakesh to Essaouira it's three hours. Essaouira there's so many things you can do right there. Then the next stop will be, let me see if I can see it, there's Imsouane, right there, right there, next, that's it, right there.

Ted Cragg (04:53)
Yep. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (04:55)
is a beautiful, beautiful,

beautiful small beach town. It's very popular amongst the locals. A lot of surfing happening, a lot of water activities happening. Also in the Essaouira and then in Dakhla, which we'll go into in a little bit, they host surfing international competitions. So

Ted Cragg (05:14)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (05:15)
if you have...

Surfer as a friend or a surfer wants to do an item this this is really really the best part to do that So you have Imsouane, then you have Taghazout somewhere Yes,

Ted Cragg (05:26)
Right bit further down. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (05:28)
yeah Taghazout right there, you know, it's again

It's beautiful. It is. It's becoming

Ted Cragg (05:36)
Yeah, look at that.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (05:36)
look at look at those that all you know accommodations Really really

Ted Cragg (05:41)
Yeah yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (05:41)
close to the ocean and it's getting a lot more popularity, especially for the last decade. So Especially during summertime it gets really really busy and very packed. Then you have Agadir which has a really really nice beach But it's not as touristy. So Agadir it's also a nice beautiful city. I love Agadir. I love the weather. It's just beautiful beautiful

Then when we go a little bit south, this is what we're going to see, a few of the cities that definitely recommend, we have Mirleft.

Ted Cragg (06:12)
yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (06:14)
It's really, really quiet. Look at that.

Ted Cragg (06:16)
that's a place with

the arches, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (06:17)
Yeah,

the place with the arch, it is gorgeous. It's really, really, really pretty. yes,

Ted Cragg (06:22)
Wow. I've seen that in pictures and stuff, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (06:25)
yes. And it looks kind of small, but when you stand next to it, it's massive. So

Ted Cragg (06:29)
yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (06:31)
and again, you know, if you remember a few months ago when we talked about the planning for traveling to Morocco in 2027 and beyond, especially the World Cup in 2030,

Ted Cragg (06:42)
Right.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (06:43)
this is where you really need to be looking into, because at that time,

this areas will be a little bit more packed, will have a little bit more development, a little bit more infrastructure. So, and

Ted Cragg (06:52)
Hmm. yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (06:54)
you don't really want to be left behind when it comes to that. And the good thing is you don't really need to be an expert of a destination to accomplish that. So that's what we do basically. We are an extension of you. And then the biggest city that I would say that it's going to see massive, tourism boost is going to be Dakhla and

Ted Cragg (07:14)
Mm-hmm. Right.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (07:16)
rightfully so.

So it's down all the way right there and you can see it.

Ted Cragg (07:19)
There it is. Yep.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (07:21)
So it's like, it almost looks like an island standing on its own. There's water on both sides. And again, look at that. Those are the accommodations

Ted Cragg (07:32)
That's a full on resort, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (07:34)
exactly. So it's already there. And again, just think of it in three years, in four years for the World Cup.

It's going to be jam packed. You definitely do not want to be missing out. Morocco is an easy, easy sell. It's not really that difficult destination. Once you get to know it a little bit, you will absolutely fall in love with it. it is incredible. So for the people that say, hey, know, Morocco is very hot. don't want, I only have time in summertime, but I don't want to go because it's too hot. This is, you have options. Yeah, absolutely.

Ted Cragg (08:05)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. How would you

how would you get then f to Dhakla? I guess what are some options to get in there?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (08:13)
that's

a good question Ted. have now in January they opened the new highway that connects the north and the south. It's about 651 miles of highway which is really really nice.

that's gonna help you get to the Dahla, connecting the other highway, the freeway with the north side of Morocco. So now, all the highways are kind of connected. So if you wanna do the north side, the south side, now when we normally do the south side, we do it on the east part of Morocco. This is the west part of Morocco.

Ted Cragg (08:46)
Right.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (08:47)
So when we talk about trending, this is what it's going to be trending for the next decade or so. This is where everything is going to be literally moving in terms of tourism, in terms of attractions to this side. And I cannot emphasize this enough. We've talked about it. And I think we're the only one who's talking about it, actually.

Ted Cragg (09:03)
Yeah, that's good.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (09:04)
because people

Ted Cragg (09:04)
Huh.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (09:05)
are not seen yet but it's already happening, the plan is already in place and it's incredible. Now in terms of driving, that's a really good option.

But then when you have an eight day itinerary, again, you're not going from just one spot to one. No, you're spending a couple of days in each spot. That way, you're really immersing yourself, whether it's Essaouira, whether it's Taghazout, whether it's agadir, whether it's Mirleft. And again, the seafood is just beyond incredible. When I talk about the food, the food here is totally different than what you would experience in the other parts of Morocco. So it's very rich. Seafood is just, it's incredible.

Then the other thing is what you can do is actually you can fly to

Ted Cragg (09:53)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (09:53)
Dahkla versus just driving. Driving is absolutely a long way but you don't drive from Marrakesh to Dahkla because it's like going from Arkansas to Florida. It's too much. So

Ted Cragg (10:07)
Yeah. Right. So there's a little airport here.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (10:10)
yeah, I would definitely recommend flying because it's gonna save you time.

you know, just to give the audience, the viewers, the listeners an idea in the past.

If you were to drive, well, the road is still there, the old road, which is the national road, between a stop and a stop just for gas in some areas, in some places, it's about 200 miles. You can just see there's just literally emptiness. It's, you know, when it comes to, it's so now that is

Ted Cragg (10:41)
Yeah, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (10:42)
changing. Now you have the freeway, you have more options. And I highly

Ted Cragg (10:45)
I see.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (10:45)
recommend flying because you have the local airlines, is the Royal Air Maroc. Then you have

Ryanair, Ryanair is really really big in Morocco. I know you know a lot of people have their own You know reservations when it comes to Ryanair EasyJet is it's a big one, but Ryanair in the last three years Have been connecting a lot of cities inside within Morocco then you know within Europe for example so you do have a lot of options as well and Even in a regular itinerary a lot of people they want they don't want to drive from Merzouga to Morocco

for example, but they can go Errachidia, which is closer to Merzouga and get on an airplane that they'll take them either to to Ouarzazate or Marrakech. so and that's something that a lot of people don't think about when you're booking your own tour where you're booking the tour for a client just give them that option hey say we can say you know there's maybe six hour drive there's ten hour drive or nine hour drive we can avoid it but just getting them on an airplane and so forth so yeah yeah this

Ted Cragg (11:47)
Sure, yeah. Interesting.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (11:48)
is this is I would say summertime

If you don't want to go to the desert I say I will highly recommend it then I also have some some videos to share Ted Yeah,

Ted Cragg (11:57)
Yeah. Let's bring those up.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (11:59)
because a lot of people they you know when you talk about Morocco. They don't see it the way they're gonna They're about to see it right now. So Yeah,

Ted Cragg (12:04)
Wait till you see this.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (12:06)
so let me see

So this is mid lift when we talked about what has that arch which is the Xera.

Ted Cragg (12:12)
Okay.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (12:13)
And again, you look at the ocean, it's very flat, the waves are not really massive, they're kind of nice, not too dangerous, it's very safe, very beautiful. And again, you can do this one as well, on top of the mountains, yeah, kite surfing. And again, look at that view, it is just,

Ted Cragg (12:25)
Wow. Kitesurfing, yeah. There it is. Huh.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (12:30)
it's very pretty, beautiful. Some of the areas and places where you can stay, the accommodations, and you can see it, it's not touristy, it's still kind of empty. They have the swimming pool

Ted Cragg (12:38)
Yeah, yeah. Huh.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (12:40)
looking at the ocean, the open ocean, it's it's

really incredible. So this is one of the stops that's

Ted Cragg (12:45)
Yeah. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (12:47)
kind of neat. and you look at just on the know next

Ted Cragg (12:49)
Yeah, jet skis, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (12:50)
yeah just next to the to the ocean you have all those accommodations. Yeah exactly.

Ted Cragg (12:54)
Yeah, the access is amazing. Mm-hmm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (12:56)
So it is definitely definitely recommended. So and again when you stand next to the arts I mean it just it is is beyond incredible the view.

Ted Cragg (13:03)
Wow. That's a cool shot.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (13:05)
Yeah the sunset and you know it's just amazing. So I think I have a couple more videos.

And again, this is Dakhla when we talked about it.

time and again and look at that. Yeah,

Ted Cragg (13:17)
wow. Big sand dunes, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (13:19)
the sand dunes and actually a lot of people they play golf here. So on the beach, which is kind of neat

Ted Cragg (13:25)
Really?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (13:25)
experience. Yes. Look at it. It's not a lot of hotels, not a lot of places

Ted Cragg (13:30)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (13:30)
to stay, but again, it's coming. So yeah, it

Ted Cragg (13:33)
The infrastructure's growing, yeah, you can tell.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (13:35)
is growing and you can see, you know, it is very pretty, very gorgeous. And there's so many things you can do when it comes to, you know, water sporting. It's really, really nice. You can, you know, do a yacht, can do jet ski.

you can just be on your set by yourself and again you can do a rally a four by four you can do you know quads you can do a camera ride absolutely yes

Ted Cragg (13:53)
Huh. So obviously you can you can rent all these equipment when you're there. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (14:00)
yeah you can you can definitely do that yes so this is this is pretty cool so

Ted Cragg (14:05)
Hmm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (14:07)
that looks like a jacks bear I have been there

Ted Cragg (14:09)
yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (14:11)
So it's very nice, beautiful,

Ted Cragg (14:12)
Amazing.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (14:12)
romantic as well. when it comes to Morocco, you really, really have a lot of options and a lot of choices. So and I'm going to go to the last but least. And this one, basically, when we talked about Essaouira and we talked about Imsouane. So keep in mind,

Ted Cragg (14:27)
Okay.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (14:27)
Imsouane is really popular amongst locals. Then Essaouira, obviously, it is internationally popular. Essaouira

Ted Cragg (14:34)
Mm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (14:35)
and Dahle, they both host

international serving events. So

Ted Cragg (14:40)
Mm-hmm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (14:42)
again, the view is just, it's beyond incredible. So it's really, really, really nice. So yeah, you can't

Ted Cragg (14:51)
That's amazing.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (14:52)
go wrong. it's summertime, it is brutal. This is how you battle the heat.

Ted Cragg (14:56)
What would the off

hand, you know, what the temperature would be like here on the coast in the middle of summer?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (15:02)
Okay, I'll start with Essaouira. Essaouira is kind of weird because Essaouira, the whole country is is burning hot It's really cold. So that's what they call it the windy city.

Ted Cragg (15:12)
yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (15:12)
I would say in terms of Fahrenheit It's probably, Essaouira will be windy at some point, know, especially you know evening and stuff I would say it's Low 70s, you know,

Ted Cragg (15:26)
Okay.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (15:26)
which is really nice. The other ones I actually

I've been to Agadir, been to Taghazout, and it's I would say probably mid 80s max, know, summertime with the breeze at nighttime. So it's yeah, it's pretty good when it comes to temperature. So you're not really feeling that heat. So yeah, highly recommend it.

Ted Cragg (15:49)
Right. Hmm. Interesting.

You know, it's gonna be something to look back at this in a few years, right? And whatever it is, three years, five years, and see how much knowing how much has changed by then, looking back at some of these pictures and videos and like, whoa, so quiet then. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's great. So

Azdean Elmoustaquim (16:07)
I know, I know for sure, yes. Absolutely right.

Ted Cragg (16:11)
I guess the bottom line is if anyone is wondering or isn't isn't aware of whether Morocco is a beach destination.

It certainly is. You can see it in the pictures and videos there. And and as you say, the infrastructure is is really coming along too. It's only gonna keep going. Mm-hmm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (16:24)
Yeah, yes. Yeah,

the North side, just to mention please, Ted, the

Ted Cragg (16:28)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (16:29)
North side, the infrastructure is already there. And the resorts, five-star hotels, international hotels, like we talked about a long time ago, it's there already, which is just, yeah, yeah. So

Ted Cragg (16:39)
Yeah. Yeah, it goes back longer. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (16:42)
this part is gonna be

the next super, super destination, for sure.

Ted Cragg (16:47)
Mm-hmm.

Okay, well, next question here you had is can Morocco work for older clients or those with mobility concerns?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (16:57)
Absolutely. reason, again, because of the diversity, the landscape of Morocco.

I know when booking a riad for example, riads are really really popular, especially for small groups or just family couple and stuff like that. when you're young, you see the riad, you love it, but you don't really pay attention to that five minute walk that took you to the riad or that 10 minute or 15 minute walk that took you to the riad or those massive stairs to get from level one to level two or level three. Those are just, they feel normal, they don't feel the pain, but they

again when you get a certain age those things really matter to you because one of the biggest it's not a misconception it's just unknown in terms of the way that Morocco is when you say first level first level in the US it's a ground level but first level in Morocco is actually second floor

Ted Cragg (17:53)
Yes.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (17:54)
So if you want your guests to be on the ground floor, have to say, Rez-de-chaussée, for example, you have

Ted Cragg (18:01)
Right. yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (18:02)
to explain it to them. Hey, I have some guests. have, you know, mobility issues or challenges, but they really prefer to stay on ground level so that way there's no miscommunication. And also you need to pay attention to are there any steps, to that reality, you know, maybe six, maybe seven, but also just to give you an example, last time

went to to Dades valley and this is one of the biggest issues that we actually have and and we had some people in the group with mobility challenges.

The stairs, they look like you're going into a mountain. I I didn't count them, but probably about 30, which is just, is brutal, it is painful, that's a lot.

Ted Cragg (18:38)
Mm, yeah, that's a lot. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (18:41)
So those are the things that we need to pay attention. And you as an advisor, you really need to ask your clients because you probably don't know, but we have to know. So those are the things that we pay attention when we talk about discovery con, say, hey, you have any further restriction, any things that we need to know, and so forth.

mobility is a big one and that was that was kind of a miss for us at that moment because I just did not know so

Ted Cragg (19:09)
Yeah, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (19:10)
yes mobility it can be you can manage your tour as long as you have all the information that you need about

any issues when it comes to mobility, any food restrictions, diet and all that stuff because Marrakesh is flat and it's perfect for that. Fes is good too, but you just you need to position them in the right accommodation, the right,

Ted Cragg (19:32)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (19:32)
there's hotels, are riads, they are just right there on the street. You park, there's no stairs and you go in and you make sure to let them, hey, I'm going to have the three rooms or the four rooms on the ground level.

so they can immerse themselves in that experience. know, Essaouira as we just saw is a flat city as well. So mobility is not going to be an issue. Then you have, for example, when you go to the desert, definitely I don't recommend the Camel Ride, I don't really recommend the Quad, but I would definitely recommend not missing that experience and replacing those with a 4x4 SUV. So that way

Ted Cragg (20:14)
okay. Hm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (20:14)
you're really still having that immersive experience.

in the sand, you're experiencing the drive and you're not really missing out on that experience. So just because you have mobility issues or challenges does not mean that you can still immerse yourself in the local culture, the local art, the local everything. So just needs to be planned the right way and ahead of time.

Ted Cragg (20:37)
That's good. And

then what about access? Because even if something's flat, also lot lots of pedestrian areas, parts of cities, the old Medinas of course that are blocked off to cars. So it's also the location of some of these riads.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (20:47)
Yes,

you're absolutely right. yes, we take all of that in consideration. And also the other thing, you mentioned the Medina, but I'll talk specifically to Fes because we have about 9,000 to 10,000 streets, no car access. And sometimes when you say, we want to do the Shouara, which is the tannery.

site visit now keep in mind when you do the time the tannery there's quite a bit of walking distance and then There are some you know steep stairs that you have to take to get to that level. So Yeah, exactly. So that experience probably is not going to be a good fit for your clients with mobility issues However, there's so many other places and other things to do visiting Fes So and and the good thing about it because you have so many choices you can do the

King Palace. It's right there. You park and you just you don't even need to get out of the car. You can see it. It's across the street.

Ted Cragg (21:45)
yeah. Right.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (21:47)
It's a vast, beautiful, the Jewish quarter. It's right across the street. They are literally next to each other. You can do a little bit of walking, but it's not, you know, it's probably less than five minutes. So it's just you have to position yourself the right way. Even, for example, Chefchaouen is a very hilly city and there's, you know, probably you're not going to be able to go to the Spanish mosque and see that.

that view from the top, know, the sunset and all that stuff, but there are a few things that you can do. know, Akchour

Ted Cragg (22:12)
Hm. Yeah, up the hill. Mm-hmm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (22:16)
which is sometimes we recommend when people go to Chefchaouen for a two-day visit, which is kind of, a walk-in a trek-in, I highly, that's out of the question. However, you can still do it, but just stay right there at the tip of the mountain. You don't have to go into the mountain and do it. again, it's really, really all about communication and attention, paying attention to

Ted Cragg (22:37)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (22:38)
details when it comes

Ted Cragg (22:39)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (22:40)
to mobility because yes it can hinder your tour but you can still enjoy everything that you want with just a little bit of tweaking on the itinerary.

Ted Cragg (22:50)
Good. Well that's the key message then that you know, people, travel advisors for sure can feel like they can still present these options for the most part to their clients.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (22:59)
Absolutely, absolutely that.

Ted Cragg (23:02)
Good.

Okay. let's see here. Next one. How does Morocco compare to Egypt, Turkey and Jordan? I'm sure you get this question a lot. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (23:11)
I get that question a lot. it's,

you know, I honestly don't know what to tell people because these are all beautiful destinations. For example, I haven't been to Istanbul, but I've seen the pictures I've seen, you know, I've been

Ted Cragg (23:24)
It's nice.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (23:25)
to the airport. I love the airport. my God, it's

Ted Cragg (23:27)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (23:27)
just, that's not an airport. That's a mega mall. I mean, it's

Ted Cragg (23:30)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (23:31)
it's, it's, it's gorgeous. So when you look at Egypt, for example, Egypt is the second

number two in Africa for the last couple years and before that Egypt has always been the number one destination in Africa so you really cannot go wrong with visiting Egypt it's a beautiful beautiful beautiful destination now comparing it to Morocco Morocco has a little bit more to offer in terms of diversity versus just the Nile the pyramids which still are incredible and I can't wait to to visit Egypt by the way so but then Morocco it's it's we win in terms of diversity things that you can do we have the desert

have the mountains, we have the coast, as we just saw. That's just a small

Ted Cragg (24:09)
Mm-hmm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (24:09)
part. Then we have the Mediterranean. And again, the Mediterranean, its beauty is just beyond incredible. And that's what I would say, Egypt versus Morocco. then Morocco versus Turkey, it's funny because traveled through Turkish airline a couple of times.

And one time I saw an ad inside the airplane and I know they were taking a jab at Morocco. But I didn't know that we are competition for them, but obviously we are. know, Turkey, it is a beautiful, beautiful destination. Istanbul, heard so many amazing, amazing stories.

Ted Cragg (24:42)
Yeah, it's a really neat city.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (24:43)
It is gorgeous. The only difference I would say, there's a little bit of similarity, but Turkey is a little bit over-touristy in my opinion, comparing to Morocco.

will

get there maybe next 15 to 20 years but right now Morocco is still unknown you still have that experience to say to your friend hey wow I've never seen somebody doing that wow that experience it's never been done before versus you know you know just a place where it's just too many tourists so that's the

Ted Cragg (25:12)
Mm, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (25:13)
that's the only thing that I would say but you know Turkey is definitely on my bucket list

It's a beautiful, beautiful destination. And again, when you look at Turkey, for example, up to before 2021, that was the number one actually wedding destination, which is it is really, really popular with, you know, so yeah.

Ted Cragg (25:29)
yeah. Hm. Mm-hmm.

Well Morocco's getting up there too now, right?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (25:35)
Morocco in 2022 became the number one

Ted Cragg (25:38)
Okay.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (25:39)
wedding destination. And again, when it comes to the West, they don't really know that you can do the weddings and all that stuff. And again, that's a completely... Yeah, so yes, yeah.

Ted Cragg (25:47)
Yeah. We've talked about that a bit before, but we should

do another episode that focuses on on weddings, you know, and the options there. what about Jordan? 'Cause it's often on that list.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (25:55)
absolutely, yeah, I would love that.

Yes, Jordan, I get this. You know it's so funny just a couple of months ago I talked to a couple and said hey,

You know, the wife wants to go to go to Morocco, but I want to go to Jordan. And, you we talked and I said, you know what, we're going to do Jordan, then we'll do Morocco and said, OK, cool. You can't go wrong with Jordan. It's a beautiful, beautiful country. Then they came back for months after and say, hey, you know what, we decided to go with Morocco. Jordan is going to be our next destination. And again, I said, great choice. I'm not really biased, but, you know, they really

Ted Cragg (26:31)
Mm-hmm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (26:32)
made a really, really good choice.

So I got to work with them and they really really loved it. We built an itinerary and they can't really wait to experience Morocco. The challenge with Jordan, you are really really limited. I've seen they have the desert, their desert experience is very different than ours, even the Emirates, you know. But the Emirates,

Ted Cragg (26:52)
Mm-hmm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (26:53)
it's like they have their own steroids and it costs a lot more to go to Morocco. And then you have

Ted Cragg (26:56)
Hm. Yeah. That's a good point.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (27:00)
Petra, beautiful, beautiful, but you're really limited to

those

in a few things that you can do. If you have

Ted Cragg (27:06)
Mm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (27:06)
two months in Morocco, you can go nuts in terms of the places that

Ted Cragg (27:09)
Yeah, you really can, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (27:11)
you can go to. Versus, you're very limited. Jordan, probably two weeks, and you've seen it all.

Ted Cragg (27:17)
Yeah, it's smaller country

for sure. Hm. Well that's good, yeah. That's good to point out. It's true. There's so much variety in Morocco, you know. We've talked about all the time, whether it's the mountains or the the ocean, the coastline and you know,

Azdean Elmoustaquim (27:28)
Yeah.

Ted Cragg (27:28)
big cities, modern cities and of course all the ancient Medinas and and little villages too, there's lots. So

Azdean Elmoustaquim (27:34)
Yeah,

Ted Cragg (27:35)
Well

that

kinda leads to the next one here. what social trends are driving Morocco demand right now?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (27:42)
You know some of them we just saw right

Ted Cragg (27:45)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (27:45)
here, and you know in terms of self it in terms of

Ted Cragg (27:49)
yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (27:49)
water sport activities, then when you look at the desert, for example, the glamping, know, you can do so many things in the desert. It's not just the camera, right? It's not just the quads. You can do so many things in the desert and rightfully so. And also when you look at, Chefchaouen city, Chefchaouen has been popular literally for almost a decade now. And before that, it was just kind of a secret town just to the locals.

Ted Cragg (28:15)
Mm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (28:15)
And sometimes it does feel a little bit of

touristy but it's still worth absolutely the visit and again it's

Ted Cragg (28:21)
Yeah, I'll pull it up here.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (28:22)
very hilly it's very beautiful different culture different you know vibe that the people are amazing the hospitality is just incredible so if you

Ted Cragg (28:32)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (28:32)
get a chance you know going to the north side I definitely recommend seeing Chefchaouen so yeah

Ted Cragg (28:39)
Yeah. It still feels like especially when

you're in the old part here, like a a a small village, you know, it doesn't feel

Azdean Elmoustaquim (28:44)
Yes.

Ted Cragg (28:45)
kind of overrun or anything like that. And the nice the neat winding alleys and and little corners and stuff. I I know I this part of it I guess it spreads out a bit more, that's little more modern, but most of it is like you can see in our picture here, this is like the central square, right? In the old kasbah. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (28:56)
Yeah, yeah, that's downtown, yes.

Ted Cragg (29:01)
Yeah. Neat.

That's good.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (29:06)
yeah, this is

a really nice view if you want to hold it just for a second. So when

Ted Cragg (29:10)
Sure, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (29:10)
we talk about mobility, you can still see it in a different way.

And again, if your clients have mobility issues,

They can still enjoy the sunset, but it's gonna be from a different part where they don't have to climb up to that hill This

Ted Cragg (29:26)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (29:26)
is a good one this is the We have these pictures we've been here before and we said

Ted Cragg (29:27)
This isn't quite as far up. This is be some kind of hotel, I guess, right? Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (29:33)
we have some clients to this this is Dar chaouen, It's a really

Ted Cragg (29:37)
Okay, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (29:38)
really nice

Ted Cragg (29:38)
And then people can drive

in if they have a van, of course, something, right? They basically can get driven in to the door. At least to get that far, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (29:42)
Yes, yes, that is correct.

So you get dropped off right to the door.

Ted Cragg (29:47)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (29:49)
property is, I would say, 90 % of the clients are really Americans, so

Ted Cragg (29:56)
Mm-hmm.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (29:56)
more than any other nationality. So when you go in, I mean, obviously everybody speaks English and Spanish

Ted Cragg (30:02)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (30:03)
the North side, so it is, everybody speaks Spanish, So, yeah, absolutely.

Ted Cragg (30:05)
Yeah. Yeah, interesting. Yeah,

so you know, and the with the World Cup coming, I mean there's gonna be more of the social trends, I'm sure, and people sharing stuff, right? Social media and who knows what might go viral. It shows up in more movies and things like that too. Huh.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (30:17)
Yeah, absolutely, Yeah. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah.

Ted Cragg (30:23)
Yeah, yeah. All right, well we got one more here. Yeah, this is a good one. This is a good one to wrap up on actually. Yeah. What can an advisor do, a travel advisor do

To

learn Morocco fast?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (30:36)
that's a good one, Ted. There are actually, you have few choices. I would say the number one, go and listen to our podcast. We've been doing this for four and a half years. We have over 130 episodes our own, then I did guest spots on...

probably 30 other podcasts from South Africa, from London, Spain, Canada, United States.

So the podcast is definitely the number one stop I would say then the second, you know, just as we saw these videos and I know probably a lot of people who gonna watch this either on YouTube or Apple podcast or Spotify podcast It's gonna look to them. This does not really feel like Morocco, but it really is and it is it's I get that all the time This does not feel like Morocco, but it's it's really really beautiful. We have over, know five

and Morocco, know, Darija classes that we talk, you know,

Ted Cragg (31:48)
Yeah, that's fine. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (31:49)
so yeah it's beyond incredible. And then the third one which is if you're a travel advisor that belongs to a host agency, a lot of host agencies they have that program or

certification program where they have a

Ted Cragg (32:03)
Right.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (32:03)
destination certificate or you know a course that you can take and a lot of them do have Morocco and if they don't you you can reach out to us whatever you need from us we'll be more than happy to to assist you with it so

Ted Cragg (32:17)
Yeah. Yeah.

Well that's it. So the information's there and I think that well, we know the demand is there, it's gonna keep growing. So you guys are a great source to help you know, give people the the information they

Azdean Elmoustaquim (32:27)
Absolutely, absolutely.

Ted Cragg (32:29)
need and send their clients to Morocco. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (32:31)
Thank you, thank you.

this concludes our episode.

It's always fun to have you there. It's incredible.

Ted Cragg (32:38)
Yeah, it's fine.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (32:41)
you know by now that Morocco trending, a beautiful, beautiful country. And to the destination, you don't really need to be an expert. That's our job. We are an extension of you. Just reach out. If you need us to do a presentation, a webinar, anything that you need from us, even in terms of material, you need things to post on your social media. We'll be happy to assist.

you with that if you find this episode helpful please recommend our podcast to fellow travel advisors leave us a review on Spotify and you know subscribe to our YouTube channel and we'll stay in touch absolutely thank you so much thank you

Ted Cragg (33:16)
Yeah, yeah, that really helps. Yeah. Yeah, thanks very much. We'll

see you next time.