Morocco wants to organise the World Cup 2026 and would like to emphasise the location; close to Europe and in a time zone that deviates up to three hours from Europe, Africa and parts of South America. Whether the wish of Morocco also becomes reality depends on the voting results of the 207 FIFA countries on Wednesday 13 June in Moscow with regard to the allocation of the World Cup. Morocco takes on a joint bid from America, Canada and Mexico.
Morocco is spending 16 billion euros on infrastructure. And the revenues? Tourism, that's the magic word. That is increasingly important in Morocco. Last year the country welcomed 11 million tourists; 10 percent more than the year before. But is it realistic to think that a World Cup provides much more tourism income? Dr Thomas Peeters, sports economist and Assistant Professor at Erasmus School of Economics, conducted research into the increase in tourism in South Africa after the 2010 World Cup ended there. "Initial estimates and revenues from tourism were three to four times higher than what was finally achieved," he says.
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Read the full article (in Dutch) on the website of NOS, 11 June 2018.