Is Airbnb still worth it in Marrakech?

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Is Marrakech tourism still growing fast enough for Airbnb?

Yes. Marrakech tourism is still growing strongly today, so weak visitor demand is not the problem facing Airbnb owners.

The latest figures from Morocco’s Tourism Observatory are unusually strong. Classified tourist accommodation in Marrakech recorded 6.05 million overnight stays during the first five months of 2026, up 10% from the same period a year earlier. Marrakech alone generated 33% of all classified tourist nights in Morocco over those five months.

Hotels and other classified accommodation were also filling rooms rather than simply adding capacity. Average occupancy reached 72%, unchanged despite the 10% increase in overnight stays. In May, occupancy reached 78% while overnight stays exceeded 1.3 million.

The newest airport numbers reinforce the picture. ONDA reported 6.41 million passengers through Marrakech-Menara during the first seven months of 2026, 10.26% more than a year earlier. International traffic was still growing more than 8% in July.

There is very little evidence of a Marrakech tourism slowdown right now. The harder question is how much of that growing demand each Airbnb owner can actually capture.

Marrakech tourism indicator	Previous period	Latest period	Change	What we learn
Classified overnight stays	Same first 5 months of 2025	6.05m	+10%	Visitor demand is still growing quickly
Classified accommodation occupancy	72%	72%	Flat	Extra capacity has been absorbed
Marrakech share of Moroccan nights	—	33%	—	Marrakech remains Morocco's dominant tourism market
Airport passengers, first 7 months	5.81m	6.41m	+10.26%	Access to the city is still expanding
July international airport traffic	674,733	730,946	+8.33%	International demand remains strong

Are there simply too many Airbnbs in Marrakech now?

Marrakech has a lot more short-term rentals than it used to, but the latest data suggest competition is hurting pricing more than destroying demand.

Airbtics counted 9,818 active Marrakech Airbnb listings around the beginning of 2026. That was 35.6% more than one year earlier and almost 149% more than three years earlier. Marrakech had effectively added several thousand competitors in a very short period.

The newest AirDNA dataset looks different because it covers Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo and uses another definition of active supply. It currently counts 12,523 short-term rentals in Marrakech and shows active supply down 37.6% year over year.

Those apparently contradictory figures are exactly why listing counts should be handled carefully. Different databases change geographic boundaries, remove duplicates differently and decide differently when a listing is still “active.”

The more useful number now is RevPAR, which combines nightly price with occupancy. AirDNA puts Marrakech RevPAR at $66, just 1.8% higher than a year earlier. Occupancy jumped 22.9%, yet the average daily rate fell 20.7% to $115.

That tells us much more than the raw listing count. Guests are still booking Marrakech short-term rentals, but hosts are competing harder on price.

How much does a Marrakech Airbnb actually make today?

A typical Marrakech short-term rental can still generate around MAD 200,000 a year in gross revenue, although there is a huge gap between ordinary properties and strong ones.

Airbtics calculated median Marrakech Airbnb revenue of MAD 195,000 over the 12 months ending around the beginning of 2026. Its median occupancy was 62% and its nightly rate was around MAD 850.

AirDNA's more recent city-wide figures put average annual short-term-rental revenue at $22,400, with 57% occupancy and a $115 average daily rate. Depending on the exchange rate used, that also puts typical gross revenue somewhere around the low MAD 200,000s.

The agreement between the two datasets is more useful than AirDNA's headline claim that average revenue has jumped 87.3% year over year. That increase partly reflects a major change in the pool of properties AirDNA currently counts. Its RevPAR measure, which is designed to compare properties operating in both periods, rose only 1.8%.

We would currently underwrite roughly MAD 190,000–230,000 as a sensible broad benchmark for a normal functioning Marrakech short-term rental before looking at the exact neighborhood, property size and quality.

Marrakech STR metric	Airbtics	Latest AirDNA	How we would read it
Annual revenue	MAD 195k median	$22.4k average	Typical gross revenue is around the low MAD 200k range
Occupancy	62%	57%	Most properties still sit empty for a meaningful part of the year
Average nightly rate	MAD 850	$115	Pricing varies sharply by property mix
Active listings	9,818	12,523	Exact supply depends heavily on methodology
RevPAR YoY	—	+1.8%	Underlying revenue performance is fairly flat

Is 57% to 62% Airbnb occupancy in Marrakech actually good?

A Marrakech Airbnb running around 60% occupancy is doing fine, but that number alone does not make the investment attractive.

At 60% occupancy, a property is booked roughly 219 nights a year and remains unbooked for about 146. If the average paid rate is MAD 900, that produces around MAD 197,000 in annual accommodation revenue.

Raise the average rate to MAD 1,200 at the same occupancy and revenue jumps to about MAD 263,000. Obsessing over occupancy can push hosts in the wrong direction.

For example, 55% occupancy at MAD 1,200 produces roughly MAD 241,000 a year. Even 70% occupancy at MAD 800 produces only about MAD 204,000. The second property hosts far more guests, creates more cleaning and absorbs more wear while making less money.

There is also a useful comparison with Marrakech hotels. Classified tourist accommodation has recently been running around 72% occupancy. An individual Airbnb has a different operating model, but that hotel number shows how strong underlying accommodation demand currently is.

When a decent Marrakech Airbnb struggles to stay above 35% or 40%, we would first look at the property, price, reviews and listing quality rather than blame the city.

Does the Marrakech neighborhood now make or break an Airbnb investment?

Yes. Airbnb performance varies enough between Marrakech neighborhoods that a city-wide average can easily lead an investor into the wrong property.

Guéliz tends to have the broadest demand. Tourists stay there, but so do business travelers, remote workers, Moroccan visitors and longer-term tenants. Hivernage attracts a more premium guest and supports higher nightly rates, although the property itself usually costs more.

The Medina offers something entirely different. A good riad can charge far more because the property itself is part of the travel experience. It also requires much more work to operate.

Palmeraie sits at the other extreme. Villas can achieve very high booking values when families or groups rent the whole property, but occupancy tends to be lower and fixed operating expenses are much heavier.

Even within the same district, micro-location matters. An apartment five minutes on foot from Carré Eden is competing in a different market from an apartment that technically appears under the same broad Guéliz label but requires taxis for almost everything.

That dispersion is why the exact street, building and property type now matter more than the broad claim that “Marrakech Airbnb yields are X%.”

Is Guéliz still the safest place for a Marrakech Airbnb?

For most conventional investors, Guéliz is still one of the easiest Marrakech Airbnb locations to defend because the property remains useful even if short-term rentals disappoint.

A modern Guéliz apartment can serve a tourist staying four nights, someone working remotely for a month or a resident looking for a furnished annual lease. That mix makes demand less dependent on the international leisure calendar.

The resale and rental markets are also much easier to understand than for a Medina riad. Current 2026 property benchmarks from ReaConsult put Guéliz apartments around MAD 13,000–20,000 per square meter, while Menzil's transaction-based observatory puts the average close to MAD 13,800 per square meter with a very wide observed range.

Long-term furnished asking rents currently start around MAD 4,000–9,000 for normal Guéliz apartments, with larger and better-located units going much higher. That fallback rent puts a floor under the investment if short stays stop making sense.

Guéliz does have a weakness: competition. Airbtics says one-bedroom properties represent the largest single category in the Marrakech short-term-rental market, and a huge number of those urban listings look very similar.

A generic beige apartment with basic furniture is easy to replace. Guéliz works best when the purchase price is sensible and the unit has something guests can actually choose it for: walkability, terrace, pool, parking, strong design or a particularly good building.

Are Marrakech riads still great Airbnb investments?

A good Marrakech riad can still be one of the strongest short-term rentals in the city, but the investment behaves much more like a small hotel than a passive apartment.

Riads have a major advantage that thousands of apartments cannot copy. Guests travel to Marrakech partly because they want the courtyard, rooftop, traditional architecture and Medina experience. A whole riad with several bedrooms can also serve groups that would otherwise need several hotel rooms.

That allows strong properties to reach nightly prices far above the city average.

The operating side is much heavier. A commercial-quality riad may need staff, breakfast service, daily guest support, rooftop and plunge-pool maintenance, more frequent repairs and constant attention to an older building. Medina access also complicates deliveries, luggage and contractor work.

The purchase itself needs more due diligence. Title status, renovation quality, structural condition, authorization and the exact legal setup can change the value dramatically. Comparing two riads purely by square meter makes little sense.

The return can absolutely beat a Guéliz apartment, but we would underwrite a riad as a hospitality business from day one. Anyone buying one because “Airbnb pays more in the Medina” is skipping most of the work that determines whether it actually makes money.

Are Palmeraie villas still worth putting on Airbnb?

Palmeraie villas can still work extremely well on Airbnb, but they are a much more specialized bet than their huge nightly prices suggest.

A large villa can rent for several thousand dirhams per night and sometimes much more during premium periods. Whole-property bookings from families, groups, weddings and private events can create extremely high gross revenue from relatively few reservations.

The acquisition cost changes the picture. Villas routinely require several million dirhams of capital, while pools, gardens, air-conditioning, security and staff create expenses even during empty weeks.

AirDNA illustrates that split very clearly. Its broader Marrakesh Prefecture dataset, which captures much more villa-heavy inventory outside the urban core, currently shows only 51% occupancy but a $236 ADR. Average annual revenue reaches $38,900, substantially more than the urban Marrakech average.

Yet Prefecture RevPAR is down 2.3% year over year even though headline average annual revenue appears to have nearly doubled. Again, the underlying comparable-property performance is much less spectacular than the headline figure.

A Palmeraie villa makes sense when it can command a real premium through privacy, design, pool quality, bedroom count or services. Paying a prestige acquisition price for an ordinary villa leaves far less room for error.

How much do Airbnb management costs eat into Marrakech returns?

Marrakech Airbnb management alone commonly costs around 20% of accommodation revenue, before several other expenses even begin.

This is one area where current local pricing is unusually consistent. Nomad Living charges 20% excluding VAT for full management. Nouni advertises 20% including tax. Your Host publishes a 20% fee, Palm Keys says 20%, and Azure starts around the same level. A recent comparison of six Marrakech managers found published commissions ranging roughly from 15% to 30%.

The important detail is what sits outside the headline commission. Nomad Living, for example, states explicitly that cleaning, linen, maintenance, repairs, consumables and Airbnb or Booking.com commissions are separate from its 20% management charge.

An owner earning MAD 220,000 gross can therefore lose money in several layers. A 20% manager takes MAD 44,000 before VAT where applicable. Platform costs come next, followed by utilities, syndic fees, linen, repairs, furniture replacement and routine maintenance.

A self-managing owner can keep considerably more. An overseas investor who outsources almost everything should expect operating expenses to consume roughly 30%–45% of accommodation revenue depending on the property.

That difference is large enough to turn an apparently excellent Airbnb into a fairly normal real-estate return.

Example on MAD 220,000 annual revenue	Lean operation	Typical outsourced case	Cost-heavy property
Gross accommodation revenue	MAD 220,000	MAD 220,000	MAD 220,000
Operating-cost assumption	25%	35%	45%
Total operating costs	MAD 55,000	MAD 77,000	MAD 99,000
Income before financing and tax	MAD 165,000	MAD 143,000	MAD 121,000
Revenue retained by owner	75%	65%	55%

Have Marrakech property prices become too high for Airbnb?

Marrakech Airbnb can still produce good yields, but current property prices leave much less room for a bad purchase than they did when the market was cheaper.

ReaConsult's current district barometer puts Guéliz apartments around MAD 13,000–20,000 per square meter and Hivernage around MAD 16,000–24,000. Avenue Mohammed VI sits around MAD 12,000–18,000. Individual properties can easily land 20% or more above or below those broad ranges.

Consider a Guéliz apartment bought for MAD 1.4 million. The investor then has acquisition expenses, furnishing, appliances, linen, decoration and potentially refurbishment before the first guest arrives.

Using roughly 7% for purchase-related costs and another MAD 120,000 for setup takes the actual cash committed to about MAD 1.62 million.

If that apartment later produces MAD 143,000 of operating income, dividing the income by the advertised MAD 1.4 million purchase price produces a misleading return. Against the full MAD 1.62 million invested, the yield is about 8.8%.

The purchase price deserves as much attention as occupancy. Overpay by MAD 200,000 and there may be no realistic pricing strategy capable of recovering the lost yield.

Is Airbnb still better than long-term renting in Marrakech?

Yes, Airbnb can still beat long-term renting in Marrakech, but we would want at least a two- to three-percentage-point net return advantage before accepting the extra work.

Suppose a decent Guéliz apartment can earn MAD 9,000 a month on a normal furnished lease. That produces MAD 108,000 gross per year. With limited vacancy and ordinary ownership costs, perhaps around MAD 90,000–100,000 remains before tax.

Now imagine the same apartment earns MAD 220,000 through Airbnb. At a 35% operating-cost ratio, approximately MAD 143,000 remains.

The gross-revenue gap looked enormous: MAD 220,000 versus MAD 108,000. The actual operating-income difference could be closer to MAD 40,000–50,000.

That extra income still matters. But the Airbnb owner also accepts guest turnover, reviews, utility bills, furniture wear, more maintenance, potential regulatory changes and a much more active management process.

If short-term renting produces 5.5% net while a normal lease produces 5%, we would usually take the simpler lease. If Airbnb can realistically reach 8% against a 5% long-term alternative, the extra complexity starts paying for itself.

This comparison also protects the investor from a weak Airbnb year. A property with a good normal rental market always has another way to earn money.

Is Marrakech Airbnb badly affected by seasonality?

Marrakech Airbnb has seasonal ups and downs, but current city-wide demand is surprisingly steady for such a tourism-heavy destination.

AirDNA gives urban Marrakech a seasonality score of 97 out of 100, with higher scores indicating a smaller gap between strong and weak months. Average annual occupancy currently sits at 57%.

The property type changes the experience considerably. Urban apartments can attract domestic visitors, longer stays and business travelers during periods when leisure tourism softens. Villas and tourist-dependent riads generally feel the calendar much more sharply.

Summer heat still hurts some segments, while autumn, winter and spring are typically much stronger. Events, European holidays and Marrakech's winter climate help spread demand across more of the year than in a traditional beach resort.

For an apartment investor, seasonality therefore looks manageable. A villa with staff, landscaping and pool costs needs more cash reserves because those fixed costs keep running when bookings slow.

We would worry much more about buying a mediocre seasonal property than about Marrakech itself suddenly losing guests for half the year.

Could Airbnb regulation become a real problem in Marrakech?

Yes. Marrakech Airbnb regulation deserves more attention now because Morocco already has a legal framework for tourist accommodation and authorities have a clear route to formalize the sector further.

Morocco's Ministry of Tourism explicitly places tourist accommodation under Law 80-14 and its implementing decrees. The framework covers tourist establishments and other forms of tourist accommodation, with requirements around authorization, safety, insurance and reporting.

Guest reporting is particularly important. Operators covered by the framework must transmit guest information electronically to the authorities.

That does not mean every residential Airbnb in Marrakech currently operates under exactly the same legal status. The practical setup can depend on the property type, authorization, local administration and sometimes the rules of the co-ownership building.

For an investor, the weak setup is obvious: a property whose attractive yield depends on everyone continuing to tolerate an informal short-term-rental operation indefinitely.

We do not currently see evidence of an announced Marrakech-wide ban comparable with the hardest European restrictions. Morocco has a strong economic interest in accommodation capacity as international tourism grows and the country prepares for 2030.

Stricter enforcement would more likely push Marrakech toward formalization. Some informal hosts could disappear, while compliant professional properties could actually face less competition.

We would therefore treat legal clarity as part of the property's value rather than an administrative detail to solve after buying.

Can Marrakech Airbnbs still compete with all the city's hotels?

Yes, but a basic Marrakech Airbnb increasingly needs a clear reason for guests to choose it over a hotel.

Marrakech now offers accommodation at almost every price point. International resorts, palace hotels, budget hotels, hostels, traditional riads, serviced apartments and thousands of short-term rentals are all chasing the same growing pool of visitors.

Hotels are also performing well. As seen above, classified accommodation recently averaged 72% occupancy even while overnight stays grew 10%. This is a competitive tourism market rather than a city where Airbnb succeeded because hotels could not satisfy demand.

Apartments still have obvious advantages for families and longer stays: kitchens, washing machines, separate bedrooms and more living space. Villas can host groups privately. Whole riads provide an experience conventional hotels struggle to reproduce.

The weakest product these days is an ordinary apartment with forgettable furniture in an inconvenient location priced close to a good hotel room.

That type of Airbnb can still receive bookings, but there is very little reason to expect exceptional returns from it.

Are the best Marrakech Airbnbs pulling away from average ones?

Yes. Marrakech Airbnb is increasingly a winner-takes-more market where a relatively small quality difference can create a much larger revenue difference.

The city now has thousands of listings and a growing professional-host ecosystem. Airbtics identifies managers with dozens of properties each, including operators controlling 40, 50 or even more than 80 listings.

That level of professionalization changes what an independent host competes against. Dynamic pricing, professional photography, fast guest messaging, automated calendars and multi-platform distribution are becoming normal rather than exceptional.

Reviews amplify the difference. A property that converts well gets more reservations, then collects more reviews, which improves future conversion and makes it easier to defend its price.

Location amplifies it again. Put the same interior in a stronger street, a building with a pool or a property with a terrace and the listing can enter a completely different competitive set.

This is why using the city-wide MAD 195,000–220,000 revenue benchmark mechanically is dangerous. Two Marrakech apartments with the same purchase price can produce very different results once guests begin choosing between them.

Will the 2030 World Cup make Marrakech Airbnb much more profitable?

The 2030 World Cup should help Marrakech tourism, but buying an Airbnb purely for the tournament would be a weak investment thesis.

The more interesting story is the infrastructure that remains afterward. Morocco is expanding airport, rail, road, hotel and tourism capacity on a scale that should support more visitors for years beyond the event itself.

Marrakech-Menara is already handling 10% more passengers this year, and the broader airport expansion program is intended to increase Morocco's ability to absorb future international traffic.

More flights, more terminal capacity and more global exposure can expand the pool of future Airbnb guests.

Supply will grow alongside it. Hotels are expanding, investors are building tourist accommodation and short-term-rental operators can add properties whenever they see attractive demand.

2030 should create extraordinary booking periods and probably some very expensive nights. We would give much more weight to the long-term increase in Marrakech connectivity than to a few tournament weeks.

A property bought today should still make financial sense during an ordinary year. The World Cup is upside, not the base case.

What return can a good Marrakech Airbnb realistically make now?

A well-bought Marrakech Airbnb can still produce roughly a high-single-digit operating return before financing and personal tax, which remains attractive if the assumptions are conservative.

Take an apartment costing MAD 1.4 million. After roughly 7% in acquisition expenses and MAD 120,000 for furniture and setup, total capital invested comes to about MAD 1.62 million.

In a strong case, MAD 260,000 of annual gross short-term-rental revenue at a 35% operating-cost ratio leaves about MAD 169,000. That represents a return of roughly 10.4% on the full investment.

At MAD 220,000 of revenue, operating income falls to MAD 143,000 and the return becomes roughly 8.8%.

At MAD 150,000, only around MAD 97,500 remains, which is about 6%. At that point, a normal long-term rental may produce almost the same return with much less hassle.

These calculations explain why Marrakech Airbnb is still interesting without being easy money anymore. A strong property can produce a very good return. A mediocre property can quickly fall back toward ordinary rental economics.

Example Marrakech apartment	Strong case	Base case	Weak case	Long-term case
Total capital invested	MAD 1.62m	MAD 1.62m	MAD 1.62m	MAD 1.62m
Annual gross revenue	MAD 260k	MAD 220k	MAD 150k	MAD 108k
Operating-cost assumption	35%	35%	35%	~10%
Income before financing and tax	MAD 169k	MAD 143k	MAD 97.5k	~MAD 97k
Return on total capital	10.4%	8.8%	6.0%	~6.0%

So, is Airbnb still worth it in Marrakech?

Yes. Airbnb is still worth it in Marrakech today, but we would only buy when the property can realistically produce around 7%–9% operating return on the full amount invested and still works as normal real estate if short-term rentals disappoint.

The demand side remains convincing. Marrakech classified tourist nights are up 10%, airport passengers are up another 10%, hotel occupancy remains high and AirDNA currently shows short-term-rental occupancy improving sharply.

The weaker point is pricing power. AirDNA's latest comparable-property RevPAR growth is only 1.8% while the average daily rate has fallen 20.7%. Hosts are filling more nights partly by accepting lower prices. That is a much more useful picture of the market than the idea that booming Marrakech tourism automatically makes every Airbnb more profitable.

Costs also change the answer. A professional manager commonly takes around 20%, while platform fees, utilities, maintenance, linen, cleaning and replacements sit around or on top of that fee. Once everything is counted, 30%–45% of accommodation revenue can disappear before financing and tax.

We would currently be most comfortable with a well-priced Guéliz apartment that has a strong long-term-rental fallback, or with a genuinely distinctive Medina riad operated as a proper hospitality business. Hivernage can work when the purchase price leaves enough room for yield. Palmeraie villas make sense mainly when the property has enough quality to command a real premium from groups.

Below roughly 6% net operating return, Airbnb becomes hard to justify against a normal tenant unless the owner also wants personal use. Around 7%–9%, the economics are still compelling. Above 9% on realistic assumptions, Marrakech remains a very attractive short-term-rental market.

Airbnb in Marrakech still works. The easy part is finding tourists; Marrakech has plenty of them. The difficult part now is buying a property good enough, and cheaply enough, to keep a meaningful share of what those tourists spend.

Who is the author of this content?

SANDS OF WEALTH

A team specialized in real estate investing in MENA countries (Morocco, UAE, Oman, etc.)

We are a team of financial experts, legal professionals, developers, and local real estate specialists dedicated to helping people like you avoid mistakes when investing in real estate in a foreign place, particularly in Marrakech. If you’d like to learn more about us, you can check our presentation page.