Magical Morocco conjures allure

Stone buildings in the ancient city of Fez. [Photo by Yang Feiyue/China Daily]

"Morocco is a very fascinating country with 3,500 kilometers of beaches, with mountains, with different languages from different nationalities," Haddad says.

"We will try to know the Chinese culture and habits of Chinese tourists."

Morocco will also employ Chinese service personnel to satisfy visitors' needs, he adds.

Its allure was demonstrated when Rabat and Fez pushed out such competitive cities as Washington DC and Los Angeles to host the Beijing-based World Tourism Cities Federation's annual summit in late September.

The meeting will help put Morocco on Chinese itineraries, the 151-member federation's deputy general secretary, Li Baochun, believes.

Casablanca is the Moroccan city best known in China, thanks to the eponymous 1943 film. The next best-known destination is the Sahara because of Chinese author San Mao's 1976 book, The Stories of the Sahara, says the Moroccan tourist office in China's chief representative, Khalid Fathi.

"If you go to three or four places, the window that we have on the world is Marrakech," Haddad says.

"I think the second most beautiful place is the ancient city Fez and the Sahara Desert."

Fez is a labyrinth of 9,300 cramped lanes, many of which dead-end. People still live in the stone buildings that date to the ninth century.