Building a tourism website in Morocco: what every business should show, from guest house to desert camp

A tourism website in Morocco means something different for a guest house in Chefchaouen, a camp in the Merzouga dunes, a guide in Fez, a surf school in Taghazout or a cooking class in the Marrakech medina. Yet travellers ask every one of them the same questions: are you real, what does it cost, what is included, how do I find you, and how do I get in touch.

This guide is for owners and managers of tourism businesses, many of them foreign investors and expats, who want a website built. It covers what every tourism site needs, what Moroccan law asks you to display for your type of activity, article by article, and a sitemap for each kind of business. Riads and travel agencies each have their own detailed article: we summarise them here and link to them.

One thing up front: Bzaf Studio is a web agency based in Marrakech since 2021. The showcase website we build collects enquiries through a form and WhatsApp. It has no booking engine and takes no online payment. We explain below when that is enough, and when you will need another tool.

Building a tourism website in Morocco: the site’s three jobs

For a tourism business, the website has three jobs.

• Be found on your name, and on Google Maps. A traveller who spotted you on a platform, at their riad or on Instagram types your name to check you exist. If nothing comes up, they hesitate.
• Answer before they ask. Price, inclusions, directions, the guide’s language, cancellation: every answer on the page is one less message to handle.
• Get people to write. A WhatsApp button on every page, a short form, a stated response time.

What changes from one activity to the next is what the traveller checks first:

Activity	What travellers check first	The page that answers
Guest house, riad, gîte	Room photos, nightly rate, location	One page per room type, an access page
Desert camp, bivouac	The inside of the tent, bathrooms, how to get there	Camp page, “Getting here” page with the meeting point
Day trips, tours	Itinerary, inclusions, price, pick-up	One page per trip
Tourist guide	Languages, accreditation, tours offered	“Your guide” page, one page per tour
Surf, hiking, activities	Level required, equipment, safety, minimum age	One page per package, a safety and equipment page
Cooking classes, workshops	Length, menu, group size, times	One page per class, a session calendar
Tourist transport	Price per vehicle, seats and luggage, meeting point	One page per route, a vehicles page

The basics every tourism site needs

Whatever the activity, ten elements come back every time. Together they are the minimum brief for your website, whoever builds it.

Element	Why	How
1. One page per offer	A specific page ranks for a specific search; a list of twenty offers ranks for nothing	A title that matches the search: “Moroccan cooking class in the Fez medina”
2. Prices in dirhams	Travellers compare; no price reads as “expensive”	“From” prices, per person, per night or per vehicle; euro equivalent as a guide
3. Real photos	Travellers can’t try before they buy: they judge on what they see	Your rooms, your tent, your vehicles, your team; compressed WebP images
4. At least two languages	Your main markets don’t all read French	Each language on its own page addresses
5. WhatsApp and a form	It is the natural channel in Morocco, tourists included	Pre-filled message naming the offer; five to seven form fields
6. Google Business Profile	It shows before your site on your name and in Maps	Real name, right category, same address and phone as the site
7. Access page with a map	Medina alleys, dunes, dirt tracks: people get lost, then call you	Photo of the meeting point, GPS coordinates, travel times
8. Seasons and dates	An enquiry for a date when you are closed costs you a reply	Opening dates, seasonal prices, a visible note on the home page
9. Licence, rating, accreditation	Proof you are legitimate, and sometimes a legal duty	Depends on the activity: see the section on the law below
10. Legal notice and privacy	Information duties, and trust	Full identity, trade register, licence or authorisation, data use

Add speed to the list: visitors browse on their phones, often on roaming data. Light pages, compressed photos, no heavy background video.

Which languages for a tourism website in Morocco?

According to the Ministry of Tourism’s key figures, Morocco welcomed 19.8 million tourists in 2025, up 14% on the previous year, and classified tourist accommodation recorded 43.4 million overnight stays. The main source markets it cites include France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Italy.

For a foreign clientele, French and English are the base; Spanish or Italian come next if your messages justify it. Arabic becomes essential once you work with Moroccan guests and diaspora families. The method takes an hour: count your last fifty enquiries by language.

Your main clientele	First language	Second language	Third, if your messages justify it
European tourists, French and English speakers	French	English	Spanish or Italian
English-speaking travellers (surf, hiking, sport)	English	French	Spanish
Moroccan guests and diaspora	Arabic	French	English
A mix of all three	French	English	Arabic

On the technical side, Google’s rule is simple. It recommends separate URLs for each language version rather than switching language with cookies or browser settings, and advises against automatically redirecting visitors from one language to another. A visible language switcher is enough.

Our All-Inclusive Pack includes a second language; as our multilingual website page says, an extra language is quoted separately. Translate everything, prices, conditions and directions included, not just the home page.

Prices in dirhams, euros and seasons

Morocco’s consumer protection law, Law 31-08, requires every supplier to inform consumers, by display or any other appropriate means, of prices and service rates and of the specific conditions of the service (article 3). On a website, the offer page does that job.

• Your reference price in dirhams, with a euro equivalent shown as a guide (“about €45”).
• A clear unit: per person, per night, per vehicle, per group of up to four. Half of all misunderstandings start here.
• The child rate, and two lists: included and not included (transfers, meals, equipment, tips).
• How long prices are valid, if your rates change with the season.

Seasons: on the site and on Google

Desert, mountain and surf businesses live by the seasons. Law 80-14 actually provides that tourist accommodation operates all year round, but may operate seasonally when needed (article 13).

On the site, seasonality means opening dates on the home page and on each offer, a rate grid by period, and a “When to come” page that also answers searches such as “Merzouga in August” or “surfing in Morocco in winter”.

On Google, the Business Profile guidelines are explicit: set your usual hours during the season, mention in your description that you only open part of the year, and mark the business as temporarily closed in the off-season. The same guidelines say that lodging and transport services should not list opening hours.

Example: a surf camp’s rate grid

Here is how to lay out seasonal rates. The prices are made up for the example.

Package	Low season	High season	Included
Surf week with accommodation, shared room	3,200 DH per person	3,900 DH per person	7 nights, breakfast, five 2-hour lessons, equipment
Surf week with accommodation, double room	4,100 DH per person	4,800 DH per person	Same, room for two
Single lesson, 2 hours	300 DH	350 DH	Instructor, board, wetsuit
Board and wetsuit hire, per day	150 DH	180 DH	No instructor

With a grid like this, messages start with “two people, double room, week of 12 April” rather than “how much?”. Updating the grid from one season to the next is one of the small changes included in our maintenance.

Direct enquiries: a form, WhatsApp, and no online payment

In Morocco, people message on WhatsApp, tourists included: the button sits on every page, with a pre-written message naming the offer being viewed. The form serves those planning from a laptop, and asks only what you need to reply:

Activity	Form fields
Accommodation	Arrival and departure dates, adults and children (ages), room type, expected arrival time
Desert camp	Date, number of guests, arriving independently or with a transfer, dietary needs
Day trip, tour	Date, number of guests, shared or private, pick-up hotel
Guide	Date, duration, preferred language, meeting point, interests
Surf, sport	Dates, level, participants’ ages, equipment needed
Cooking class, workshop	Date and session, number of participants, allergies or diet
Transport	Flight number, date and time, passengers, luggage, drop-off address

Don’t ask for more. Law 09-08 on personal data requires data to be “adequate, relevant and not excessive” for its purpose (article 3), and processing is in principle subject to a prior declaration to the CNDP, the data protection authority (article 12). A passport number has no place in a price enquiry.

For accommodation, Law 80-14 settles the question anyway: the operator asks for ID and has the individual registration form filled in on arrival (article 37), then declares guests daily through the online tele-declaration (article 36). The website does not need that data in advance.

What about payment?

The showcase website we build takes no online payment and shows no real-time availability. An enquiry comes in, you check the room, the seat or the session, you confirm in writing, and you get paid as you do today: deposit by bank transfer, balance on site, or on your own terms. State a response time and stick to it: “reply within two hours, 8 am to 10 pm”.

That works as long as you answer each enquiry yourself, which is the case for most guest houses, guides, camps and workshops. If you want guests to book and pay on their own, around the clock, you need booking software: a separate tool with its own subscription, not included in our pack.

Google Business Profile, reviews and Google Maps

On a name search, your Google Business Profile often appears before your website, with the map, photos and reviews. Our offer includes setting it up or optimising it. Three rules from Google’s official guidelines matter most in tourism:

• Your real name, nothing more. The one on your sign, your website and your documents. “Riad Yasmine” is fine, “Riad Yasmine best cheap riad medina” is not: Google warns that the profile can be suspended.
• One profile per business. Not one for the guest house and another for its excursions at the same address.
• No premises where you receive customers? Hide the address. A guide or driver who works from home and goes to the customer is a “service-area business”: Google asks you to hide the address.

Reviews: ask everyone, offer nothing in return

Google’s policy on content in Maps lets you ask for reviews, provided you offer nothing in exchange. It forbids offering payment, discounts or free services for a review, selectively asking only happy customers, and requiring or pressuring customers to leave a rating on the spot.

In practice: on the evening of departure, send every guest, happy or not, a WhatsApp message with the direct link to your profile. No tablet held out at reception, no free drink for five stars. And reply to every review, especially the bad ones.

The map and the access page

Medina alleys taxis can’t enter, a camp several kilometres down a track, a beach with no street address: the access page gives a photo of the meeting point, GPS coordinates, travel time from the airport, what to do when arriving at night, and a link that opens directions on the phone. How to climb in Maps is covered in our article on local SEO and Google Maps in Morocco.

Licence, rating, accreditation: what each activity must display

Depending on the activity, one law mentions the website explicitly, another covers “printed matter and correspondence” or advertising, and a third doesn’t mention websites at all. The practical rule: display what your authorisation says, exactly as it says it. What follows is a practical reading of the texts, not legal advice.

Classified accommodation: type and rating, word for word

Law 80-14 on tourist establishments and other forms of tourist accommodation, enacted by Dahir 1-15-108 of 4 August 2015, defines the types of accommodation (article 3): hotel, hotel club, tourist residence, guest house (maison d’hôtes), riad, kasbah, gîte, pension, campsite. Its implementing Decree 2.23.441 of 13 July 2023 sets the ratings: one to five stars for a guest house; three, four, five stars or “luxury” for a riad or kasbah; one to five stars or “luxury” for a hotel.

Three articles affect your website:

• Article 5: opening an establishment requires an operating authorisation. Article 43 fines opening without one between 50,000 and 500,000 DH.
• Article 14: the operator uses, on all printed matter and correspondence, the type, name and, where applicable, the rating stated in the classification decision.
• Article 12: the classification is binding on publishers of tourist guides, brochures and directories and on any advertising body; their documents must not contain anything likely to cause confusion about the type or rating. Article 45 fines operating under a higher rating than the one granted between 50,000 and 100,000 DH.

On the site: type and rating written exactly as in the decision (“Maison d’hôtes 3 étoiles”), in the footer and on the “About the house” page, and the same name everywhere. No decorative “5-star” and no “luxury” used as an adjective if that is not your rating. Google’s real-name rule points the same way.

Bivouacs, homestays and alternative accommodation

The same law covers “other forms of tourist accommodation” (article 29): the bivouac, a temporary camp set up on a trekking stage, in the desert or on a designated site; homestays (hébergement chez l’habitant); and alternative accommodation. Operating them requires an authorisation with specifications (article 30), and the operator uses, on all printed matter and correspondence, the name and, where applicable, the category stated in that authorisation (article 33).

Decree 2.23.441 specifies that a bivouac licence is issued by the competent local authority, on an application filed at least fourteen days before setting up (article 51), and that the file includes a copy of the accreditation of the natural-areas guide accompanying the tourists (article 53). Homestay and alternative accommodation licences are also issued by the local authority, and the maximum number of rooms marketed is set by order (article 60).

For a camp’s website: the name as authorised, the accompaniment by an accredited guide, photos of the camp as it really is, and no “5-star luxury camp” unless your authorisation says so.

Travel agencies and day trips: the licence number

Organising or selling tours, city or site visits, or guide services is a travel agent activity under Law 11-16 (article 1, c), which requires a licence (article 3). This is the only law that names the website: a travel agent shows its licence number on its website (article 11) and publishes, for each tour or package, the information on the trip, the services and the prices (article 17). The full detail, with a model tour page and transfers, is in our article on travel agency websites in Morocco.

One point also concerns surf camps and sports holidays. The law defines a tourist package (article 2): over twenty-four hours or including a night, sold at an “all-inclusive” price, combining at least two significant services among accommodation, transport and other tourist services. Selling packages is listed as a travel agent activity (article 1, d). If you sell an “all-inclusive week”, have your situation checked before writing your pages.

Tourist guides: category and accreditation

Law 05-12 on the tourist guide profession sets two categories, each practised exclusively: city and tour guides, and natural-areas guides, for mountains, deserts and villages (articles 1 and 3). Nobody may practise without accreditation (article 5), and guides carry a professional card and badge while working (article 10).

This law says nothing about websites. But your accreditation is your first selling point, and agencies that could send you clients may only use accredited guides (Law 11-16, article 21). State your category on the “Your guide” page, and only offer online the tours it allows: a city and tour guide doesn’t sell Atlas treks.

Tourist transport: approval and vehicles

The specifications for tourist road transport require a personal approval from the Transport Commission, valid for seven years, and an authorisation card for each vehicle (articles 4 and 5), with dedicated tourist transport signage (article 7). On the site: a vehicles page with real photos, signage visible, and a mention of your approval.

Surf, cooking, quads, hiking: check locally

Among the tourism legal texts published by the ministry, we found none specific to surf schools, cooking classes or motorised leisure. That doesn’t mean nothing applies: if you accompany tourists in the mountains or the desert, that is the natural-areas guide’s field; if you sell all-inclusive stays, reread the package definition. Check with the local authority before writing your pages, and announce nothing your paperwork doesn’t say.

Activity	Text	What it requires	Where on the site
Classified accommodation	Law 80-14, art. 12 and 14	Type, name and rating from the classification decision; no confusion in advertising	Footer, “About the house” page, legal notice
Bivouac, homestay, alternative	Law 80-14, art. 30 and 33; Decree 2.23.441, art. 51 and 60	Name and category from the authorisation	Footer, camp or house page
Travel agency, day trips	Law 11-16, art. 11 and 17	Licence number on the website; information and price for each tour	Footer; one page per tour
Guide	Law 05-12, art. 1, 5 and 10	Accreditation, card and badge (the law does not mention websites)	“Your guide” page
Transport	Specifications, art. 4 and 7	Approval, card per vehicle, signage	Vehicles page
Any activity sold electronically	Law 31-08, art. 29 and 42	Identity, contact details, trade register, licence number with its date and issuing authority	Legal notice, written confirmation

The legal notice on a tourism website

Law 31-08 defines an “e-merchant” (cyber-commerçant) as anyone using the internet in a professional activity (article 25). Its article 29 lists what a distance offer must include: the main features of the service; the name and company name, phone number, email and physical address; for an e-merchant, the trade register number and share capital, the tax ID if registered for VAT, and, if the activity requires a licence, the licence number, its date and the issuing authority; payment and performance terms; and how long the offer and price are valid.

The tourism-specific point is in article 42. For accommodation, transport, catering or leisure services provided on a set date, articles 29, 32, 36 and 37 do not apply, except that articles 29 and 32 do apply when the contract is concluded electronically. Two consequences:

• If you confirm bookings by email or message, put this information on the site and in the written confirmation (article 32: confirmation of the information and an address for complaints).
• The seven-day withdrawal period of article 36 does not apply to a night or a trip on a set date. Your cancellation terms, written on the page and repeated before confirmation, are what tell guests what happens if they cancel.

Your legal notice therefore brings together the company name, address, phone and email, trade register and capital, tax ID where applicable, the licence or authorisation (number, date, authority) and any rating. With the privacy policy, it is part of the legal pages in our offer: you give us the numbers, we write the pages.

A sitemap for each type of tourism business

Our pack covers up to 30 pages, but most of the sites we deliver have fewer than fifteen. A tourism business rarely needs more: what matters is one page per offer and pages that answer questions. Here are the structures we suggest, to adapt.

Activity	Pages	Typical structure
Guest house, gîte	12	Home; 4 room or room-type pages; The house and the neighbourhood; Meals and services; Getting here; Reviews; FAQ; Enquiry and contact; Legal notice and privacy
Desert camp, bivouac	13	Home; The camp; Tents (2 pages); Night at the camp and camel ride; Trips from the camp; Getting here; When to come; Our guides; Reviews; FAQ; Enquiry and contact; Legal notice
Independent guide	10	Home; Your guide (category, accreditation, languages); 4 tour pages; Rates; Reviews; Enquiry and contact; Legal notice
Surf camp or school	15	Home; Surf week; Surf weekend; Beginner lessons; Improver lessons; Equipment hire; Accommodation; Spots and seasons; Safety and equipment; The team; Reviews; FAQ; Enquiry and contact; Legal notice and privacy
Cooking class, workshop	9	Home; Morning class; Evening class; Private and group classes; The venue and the team; Session calendar; FAQ; Enquiry and contact; Legal notice
Tourist transport	12	Home; 3 airport transfer pages; Intercity routes; Driver for the day; Vehicles; Approval and insurance; FAQ; Enquiry and contact; Legal notice and privacy

Two rules apply everywhere. Each page title matches a real search, with the place: “Beginner surf lessons in Taghazout”, “Night in the desert in Merzouga”. And each page ends with the WhatsApp button and the form, with the offer’s name already filled in.

The blog completes the structure: our pack includes one article a month. The best topics are the questions travellers ask before booking, “what to pack for a desert night in January”, “what level do you need to surf in Imsouane”, published two or three months before the season. These are also what AI assistants read, as we explain in our article on getting a Moroccan business into AI assistants.

Riads and travel agencies: already covered

Riads, guest houses, small hotels. The site’s role is to win back direct bookings from guests who found you elsewhere: six pages that convert, quality photos, a direct-booking perk, a linked Google profile. It is all in our article on riad and hotel websites in Morocco.

Travel agencies, day trips, transport. The Law 11-16 licence number, one page per tour priced in dirhams, fixed-price transfers and a 30-page structure for a Marrakech agency: see our article on travel agency websites in Morocco.

What a tourism website costs, and what ours includes

In the Moroccan market, a showcase website costs from about 5,000 DH with a freelancer and 15,000 to 45,000 DH with a traditional agency, for the build alone; hosting, domain and maintenance come on top. The three-year breakdown is in our article on website costs in Morocco.

At Bzaf Studio, the All-Inclusive Pack costs 399 DH a month including VAT, with a 12-month commitment, then month to month. Or 4,550 DH a year including VAT, 238 DH less than twelve monthly payments (4,788 DH). No set-up fee: the first month is paid when you order, by bank transfer. The pack includes:

• a showcase website of up to 30 pages, custom mobile-first design, and a second language;
• the enquiry form and WhatsApp button on every page;
• SEO on every page, the FAQ, your Google Business Profile and the legal pages;
• the domain name, hosting, SSL, backups, maintenance and small changes;
• one blog article written for you every month.

The maths is quick. With made-up prices: two nights in a guest house at 700 DH a night is 1,400 DH; a cooking class for two at 450 DH each is 900 DH. A single direct enquiry a month, with no middleman, covers the subscription.

What our pack does not do, so you can choose with your eyes open:

• Instant booking with a calendar and online payment. Our site collects enquiries; it does not take payments.
• An online shop with a cart and stock management.
• A site for one season only. The commitment is 12 months. For a seasonal business that is rather an advantage: off-season, the site keeps collecting enquiries for next season, and the blog articles keep working.

Your site goes live within 5 working days of your complete brief, and you approve every page before launch. We work from Marrakech, all over Morocco: see our pages for Marrakech, Agadir, Fez and Tangier.

Pre-launch checklist

Whether we build your site or someone else does, check these points on your phone, on 4G, as a traveller discovering you would.

• Searching your name brings up your site or your profile, and both show the same name, address and phone number.
• Every offer has its own page, with a title that matches a real search, a price in dirhams, the price unit, inclusions and exclusions.
• Opening dates and seasonal prices are written down, and your Google profile follows the season.
• Your type and rating, licence number or authorisation appear exactly as written in the decision.
• No page uses “5-star”, “luxury” or “official guide” unless your paperwork says so.
• The WhatsApp button and the form work, tested with a real enquiry.
• The access page shows the meeting point in a photo and the GPS coordinates.
• The legal notice, privacy policy and cancellation terms are online.

Where to start this week

Three steps are enough to get going. List your offers with their price in dirhams and what is included. Gather your paperwork: classification decision, authorisation, licence or accreditation, trade register. Pick twenty real photos. With that, we build the site in 5 working days. The order page takes five minutes, and the full details are on the offer page. A question first? We reply within 24 hours on WhatsApp.