As of June 11, 2026, Airbnb is required to pay VAT on its Moroccan revenue, joining companies such as Netflix, Google, and Meta under the country’s digital tax regime. A new platform launched by the General Directorate of Taxes (DGI) now oversees the taxation of digital giants operating remotely in the Moroccan market. On paper, the change is little more than an administrative adjustment. In reality, it reflects a sector that has grown large enough for the government to claim its share.
The measure did not emerge overnight. Since 2024, Airbnb has been sending Moroccan authorities reports on every stay booked through its platform, while the DGI has strengthened cooperation with the Foreign Exchange Office and the Ministries of Tourism and the Interior. More recently, Casablanca and Rabat have introduced strict limits on the construction of studio apartments, capping them at around 20% of units per building in several districts and imposing a minimum floor area of 60 square meters.
The studio apartment: Fueling the boom
What was, a decade ago, little more than a seasonal source of supplementary income has evolved into an asset class of its own. Investors are now buying properties exclusively for short-term rentals, with no intention of ever living in them. Tourism continues to surge, 7.7 million visitors in the first five months of 2026, following a record 20 million in 2025, and the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal, has only accelerated the trend.
Studio apartments have been at the heart of this expansion. “Airbnb has clearly transformed the market, particularly because it has helped sell a significant portion of the stock of studio apartments built in recent years” Kevin Gorman, CEO of Mubawab, tells TelQuel.
He adds: “Casablanca and Marrakech are now among the top African cities on the platform, and demand there is enormous because Airbnb is helping to fill, at least in part, the gap in hotel infrastructure.”
Without this abundant supply of studio apartments, it is difficult to imagine the sector expanding so rapidly, or Casablanca and Rabat feeling compelled to impose such strict construction limits.
A three-speed landscape
Data from the AirDNA dashboard, which tracks short-term rental performance across markets in real time, paints a more nuanced picture. The first takeaway is clear: supply is growing rapidly almost everywhere. Casablanca and Agadir are expanding at the same pace, each recording a 24% year-on-year increase in active listings, bringing their inventories to 5,038 and 6,075 properties, respectively.
Rabat follows closely, with listings up 22.5% to 2,213 properties. Smaller markets are also expanding. Essaouira posted a 15.7% increase, reaching 3,367 listings, while Chefchaouen grew by 9.4%, although its inventory remains limited to 665 properties.
Marrakech, meanwhile, accounts for roughly half of the country’s total supply. The city now boasts 12,311 active listings, the largest inventory in Morocco by a wide margin, but average annual revenue per property has edged down by 0.9% year-on-year to 206,000 dirhams, despite rising tourist demand. The figures suggest that supply is beginning to outpace the market’s ability to absorb it.
On the city’s outskirts, however, the picture is very different. The district that includes areas such as La Palmeraie has just 3,013 listings, yet average annual revenue reaches 350,000 dirhams, up 3.1% year-on-year. Two distinct markets are operating under the same city label.
Elsewhere, the hierarchy is more balanced. Agadir (118,000 dirhams, +6.3%) and Casablanca (105,000 dirhams, +2.1%) generate similar average rental revenues, supported by a mix of leisure and business travelers. Essaouira, with average annual revenue of 161,000 dirhams (+8%), outperforms both cities despite having only a third of their property stock, demonstrating how a well-positioned niche market can outperform a high-volume one.
Rabat stands out as the country’s strongest performer. With the highest market score (97 out of 100) and the fastest revenue growth (+11.1%), the capital appears to be Morocco’s healthiest short-term rental market and remains far from saturation.
Tangier is the notable exception. Despite a 16.6% increase in active listings, bringing the total to 4,939, its market score has stagnated at 64, well below the 90-plus scores seen elsewhere, and average annual revenue has remained virtually unchanged at 115,000 dirhams (-0.3%).
Together, these figures show that Morocco’s short-term rental boom is unfolding at very different speeds depending on the city.
Property management services take center stage:
An entire ecosystem has emerged around the sector. Concierge companies, which manage check-ins, housekeeping, and guest relations on behalf of property owners, have multiplied since the post-pandemic period. For real estate agencies, these services have become a new source of recurring income, replacing one-off commissions earned from property sales.
“A lot of people jump in thinking the money will just roll in. It took me a while to realize that everything hinges on the purchase itself, not on Airbnb.” And since I started working with a professional property management service, my income has been much more consistent than when I was managing my properties on my own from afar” a Moroccan investor living abroad, who owns four properties rented out on Airbnb in Marrakech, tells TelQuel.
The sector itself shows no sign of slowing. Morocco is investing around $4 billion to expand its hotel capacity by 20% by 2030, while Airbnb-style furnished accommodation remains part of that strategy as a complementary solution. But the market has matured. Professional management, regulatory compliance, and proper tax reporting have become essential: profitability now depends as much on operational discipline as on financial calculations.
One question, however, remains largely unasked: of the thousands of new hosts joining the platform each year, how many will be able to withstand competition that continues to intensify?
Written in French by Safae Hadri, editd in English by Amina Kadiri
